YuGiOh!: Traitorous Savior
by MarkMachine
Summary: Good deeds don't mean much if others don't appreciate them. Or know of them. When a robbery of Chinese relics occurs and Terry is suspected, there's no choice but to go into hiding to find out why and by whom.
1. What's 'Normal' Around Here, Again?

Yu-Gi-Oh! – Traitorous Savior

Author's Note: This is my sequel to my first fanfiction, Yu-Gi-Oh Future History. I want to make a couple of points about this story before you begin.

First the dueling. As before, I've written this fiction with the anime rules 'in mind'. Duels are played with 4000 Life Points instead of 8000. Sacrifices must be made for monsters, Fusion Monsters can attack in the turn they're summoned, Normal Spell Cards can be treated as a Spell Speed 2 which means they can be used on the opponents turn like a Trap or Quick-Play card, monsters can be played face up in defense mode if they want. Unless for reasons stated in the story, no card is banned. But there is no mention, nor will there be mention/playing of God Cards.

Now the status of Future History. I know it's unfinished and unfortunately, I may not complete it. Reason being that I had it completely finished and a storm knocked out my apartment's power before I could save it. I may finish it, but I've written the ending of it in within the story for 'completion's sake'. You'll get the basic gist of it.

Now the story. First thing that I'll say is that I will be doing far fewer duels than before. It was in a tournament setting, so it was warranted. I just feel, having read a few more fictions, that the dueling shouldn't drive the story. That's what I've seen with a lot of other fictions, more dueling than character time. Take away the duel and the emotions/statements said _within_ the duels, and the characters don't have much to them. I felt like my characters were about to fall into the same rut.

Future History only got some 7 reviews but they were pretty positive. I'm not writing for the reviews but if you want to offer them, please do. I plan to do this whole story regardless of how many i get. Upset enough that one story of mine is unfinished...

Hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

"I swear to God, I'm going to knock your head smooth off your neck if you don't get out here!"

"Screw you…" came a feeble and quiet reply from behind the house's door.

"Alright, Knowledge, you had your chance…" Terry Hairston let out an exasperated sigh, and then gave the signal to his friend Jamie Cantou.

The two of them were trying to coerce their mutual friend Catravious Collins, or "Knowledge" as he liked to be called, into coming out of his house. Where he had locked himself up for the last week after the end of the Battle City tournament in their city of Millstone. Terry was pounding on his friend's front door trying to use normal means to get him out. But upon realizing that that wasn't going to work, underhanded tactics were now necessary.

Terry's signal gave Jamie the go-ahead to sneak into Knowledge's house via an unlocked window that was cracked in the fairly mild heat of spring. Thankful that the window made no noise when lifted, Jamie hopped up into the opening and made his way into the waited outside but didn't have to wait long for the sounds of a struggle to erupt. The voices were thrown over each other, so he couldn't tell who was saying what.

"What the hell?!"

"Get outside!"

"We've been waiting on you!"

"…snuck in my house like a damn rat!"

"Get off me, I'm not your girlfriend!"

"No weapons! No bats, you IDIOT!"

Silence fell. It got quiet in the house.

The sound of someone fiddling with the door lock in front of Terry.

The door swung open to find a not-too-happy Jamie sporting a bag of ice over his forehead standing next to an equally not-too-happy Knowledge.

Terry broke into a wide grin. "Morning guys!"

* * *

"Have you found them yet?"

"Not yet."

"What is taking you so long? "

"Don't remind me about how important this is."

"If we all mess this up, you won't need me to do it."

"…"

* * *

"You know, you could've just asked me to come out like a normal person instead of trying to go all secret agent breaking into my house, Jamie." Knowledge muttered.

Jamie had left the ice at Knowledge's house as the three of them walked down the street side by side. But he was still rubbing the top of his head where he got whacked. He looked to his right, "Well, normally, you don't greet people with a closed door and a 'Screw you'"

Knowledge snickered, "Yeah, maybe not."

The tone of that set Jamie off. "Forget Terry, I'm gonna be the one to knock you upside your head!"

"Well it was said in the heat of the moment…" Terry meekly tried to explain.

"Heat of the moment? Yeah right, I'm still wondering what kept you from turning that door into a pile of toothpicks." Jamie quipped.

It was Terry's turn to snicker, and he got a head start on this one, jogging ahead of them, "Because I did what any great general does, used scouts!"

Jamie tore off after Terry, screaming where he could stick his next 'mission'.

* * *

"…I located them."

"Very good. Where are they?"

"…"

"Well?"

"…"

"Answer me!"

"…America."

"…"

"Yes, we seem to be having the same thoughts."

"That makes it more difficult to recover them. Narrow down the search to the precise city."

"…"

"Do you have it?"

"Yes. It is in…Millstone City. They're on their way to a museum according to this. For a special showing there for a week."

"I see…The same city as where that boy is, too. This isn't good."

* * *

The three of them calmed down enough to manage to keep walking together without getting into too many more heated arguments. Indeed, the events of the last week was trying on all three young adults. Well, young adults being the dual 16 year olds in Terry Hairston and Catravious 'Knowledge' Collins. Jamie Cantou was still the standout being 21 but that was not an issue between the three. The fact remained that they were all recovering from the events of the last few days in their own ways.

Today being a fairly hot day for spring, all three had chosen to wear shorts outside. Jamie was dressed in a basketball uniform, a primarily white sleeveless top with matching shorts that hung just past his knees. It offered no pockets but was very welcome with the weather.

Terry had opted to wear dark blue jean shorts that also came down to his knees. A primarily yellow shirt with a vertical black stripe that ran down the front of his shirt, and also down the tops of his short sleeves, were tucked into those shorts.

Knowledge was the least dressed in a way. He was wearing a simple light blue tank top over a like, colored pair of jean shorts. The shorts were made so the front and back of the shorts looked white and faded around the sides into a light blue color.

All three of them wore backpacks that carried their own Duel Disks. They never left to go anywhere without them now, but didn't put them on their wrists. It was too hot to have to machine on their arms and likewise too hot to duel. At least that was their line of thought. A duel could be seen in progress far ahead of them with two children at play with some friends or maybe just spectators of similar age watching.

"Wanna go watch?" Jamie said.

Both Terry and Knowledge replied with a shake of their heads and turned at the intersection they had come across. Jamie shrugged it off. The three of them were drained from dueling. Terry had had his fill of dueling in general from the last week of events that had nearly left him for dead. An involuntary shiver ran down his spine. Re'-Sha had been defeated, he had fulfilled his role in the future, and set things right. The aftermath of the tournament had left him as the city's Battle City champion and a transparent, glass-like Duel Disk sat in his backpack as proof of it. He looked back at the duels he faced as a way of growing up a little and abandoning those idiotic thought of being some hero. Hero, he wasn't and wasn't ever going to be. He just did what he could to set things right with the help of his other persona. One that he couldn't remember clearly, but maybe it was better that way.

Jamie had his own share of unwillingness to duel lately. He glanced at the bobbing Millennium Puzzle that was around Terry's neck and scowled at it. He had never liked the Millennium Items after learning they were real. All they brought with them were destruction and despair. Even death. He might've been the only one that looked at the things as weapons of massive negligent energy instead of cool playthings. The awe and wonder of them were lost on him, he saw them for what they really were to him. While dying was something that he rarely thought about, being forced to think about your own mortality at such a young age was not cool. He'd seen only one Game of Darkness. That was enough for him to decide it was nothing that was willing to engage in. Something that had that much power, in his opinion, was only a disaster waiting for a catalyst.

Knowledge, on the other hand, was usually the most talkative but was reserved now. Not that his friends could blame him. Re'-Sha had turned his lady friend Janet Rush into a person he no longer knew. He also lost out in a match in the quarter-finals of Battle City to Lamar Vega, the one duelist that all duelists agreed could be realistically called a King of Games. He also took it upon himself to take one of the Millennium Items Terry had collected and planned to use it as a bargaining chip against Re'-Sha. Which led to him being the first person to use Soul Burning between him and Terry. A method that basically could slowly kill its user, but brought forth a real monster. Since Re'-Sha had been banished, he wouldn't or couldn't stop thinking of how to get Janet back.

Jamie looked over at Knowledge, knowing what was on his mind. _He just will not let this thing about Janet go. Can't blame him, I'd probably be the same way. But he shouldn't be letting the whole thing rule his life._

"Just where are we going anyways?" asked Knowledge, talking to Terry's back who was a few steps ahead of him and Jamie. Terry turned to look at the two over his shoulder as he kept walking.

"Don't know, just felt like going out and chilling with my friends." He remarked.

"What? We don't have any idea where we're going?" Knowledge nearly face fell.

Jamie tried to salvage the situation. "Let's go bug RJ for a while."

It was a suggestion that everyone liked since none of them couldn't get enough fun out of teasing the store owner of Rolling Stock. It was incidentally the store where all of them had gotten their Duel Disks and began Battle City. None of them had been in the store since a few days before the start of Battle City. Which was actually the same amount of time when Re'-Sha came into the picture. She came after Terry for the Millennium Puzzle, wishing to use it and the other items to rejoin with Exodia. She claimed Exodia was originally a monster born from her own pure, raw emotions because of, in her mind, unfair punishment by Anubis and Egyptians of ancient times. Her body, which they came to call Exodia, was fragmented and became a tool of the Egyptians whilst her heart was sealed into the Millennium Puzzle. In a kind of sad way, her shattered ethereal form was used as a weapon. A weapon they assisted in creating.

Terry's friends, after learning about that fact, always glanced at the Millennium Puzzle with less awe and more caution. But none more than Terry; he carried a part of the woman that wanted to kill him around his neck. He told them it never sat well with him, having your enemy that close to you.

Knowledge and Jamie hadn't been to see RJ since they started in Battle City. The walk to the store didn't take very long and they slipped into the store to find it pretty empty. Outside of a couple of people browsing, there was a small group of kids that were gathered around a table off to the side of the store.

"Well, well…my two favorite leeches!" came a voice from within the circle. A head poked up and RJ stood up. He was a guy roughly in his mid to late thirties, in the prime of his life. He had sandy blonde hair that was swept back and to side, some spilling to just over his eyebrows. Brown eyes and a sharp jaw, he was dressed in a gray t-shirt over some pretty dusty looking blue jeans. His usual kind of card shop attire. He always carried himself with an attitude that seemed so easygoing and even-tempered. He stepped away from the kids to approach Terry's group.

"Leeches?" Terry laughed. "Hey, bite me, geezer."

RJ smiled walking toward Terry and gave him a light, quick knock on his head. Looking at Terry as he rubbed his forehead he said, "Watch it, kid." He nodded to the kids behind him with a small smile. "There are Playskool kids present."

Jamie and Knowledge stifled a laugh and followed RJ as he walked behind his L shaped glass counter of displayed cards. "So what's happenin, RJ?" Jamie asked, looking at the cards for potential new collectables.

"Not too much. Enjoying the downtime." RJ spilled himself lazily into a beat up executive chair in front of his register and idly began counting the money in it.

"Downtime?" asked Knowledge.

"Hell, yeah. With you guys and your Duel Disks, I don't have to have 60 screaming kids and 60 cursing young adults to manage in my store." he remarked, pausing in counting the register and chuckling.

"Man, you couldn't even fit that many people in this place." Terry remarked, giving the store a once over.

"Like you told me…" RJ made his hand into a claw shape and had it 'bite' into his hip. "Anyway…I don't have nearly as many people crowding in here to duel. They still like to come here as a meeting spot I guess but I'm starting to grow color into my hair again with all that stress gone."

Jamie snickered. "Don't worry, it'll turn grey soon enough."

Under the level of the table, RJ gave Jamie the old one-fingered salute.

Knowledge folded his arms, "Or it'll just fall out altogether."

With his other arm, Knowledge, too, received the bird.

"You could use a wig right now anyways." Terry muttered, intentionally loud.

Seeing as how both of his fingers were in use, RJ motioned Terry toward his crotch.

Terry, Knowledge and Jamie all turned away, laughing.

"So how is it being a champ these days?" RJ asked Terry.

Terry, with his back still turned, took off the backpack he was carrying and opened up the main pouch so RJ could look at the glass Duel Disk. RJ leaned in, his eyes wide as he stared at the transparent Duel Disk. He carefully slid it out of the bag, marveling at its design. It was in the design of the Mark I Duel Disks, the type that the anime showed as first being developed by Seto Kaiba and his company, Kaiba Corporation for the Battle City Tournament. The duel field was completely transparent except for the arrows on the disk which where shaded blue. The outer edges, or any area on the disk that would've been colored grey was instead shaved crystal so it looked like a snow white color. The outlining part where the deck rested had been shaded blue and the outlining around the graveyard was shaded black. Right below the panel that displayed Life Points, the machinery that operated the Duel Disk could be seen.

RJ took it all in and if his eyes had the ability, they'd turn into dollar signs.

"Just how long you plan to hold onto this?" RJ asked, his voice pleading for Terry to give him that disk. He tried to cradle it into his chest, keeping it away from the young adult.

Terry took on the tone of a scolding mother, "Now, now, RJ. Didn't mommy teach you that stealing is wrong?"

Standing straight and proud with a big smile on his face, RJ said, "Keh, my mom taught me three things. One, never stand behind a cow. Two, work smarter, not harder. Three, "Maximum profit for minimal work." RJ counted off on his fingers after he had replaced the Duel Disk into Terry's backpack.

"Huh…sounds like your mom is as lazy as you are." Knowledge muttered.

"That's right, that's ri- Hey!"

Knowledge and Terry lost it, falling to the floor in a twisted heap of laughter that masked RJ's yell of 'That's a damn lie!'

* * *

Knowledge, after regaining himself, pulled himself away from the group for a minute when a call from his cell phone chirped. He flipped open his phone and raised the antenna.

"Hello?" he spoke into the receiver.

"…"

"Hell-o?" he repeated.

"_Hi…Catravious_."

Knowledge turned away from the group his eyes narrowed and now completely focused on the caller. He knew this voice, even though he had never talked to her on the phone.

"_No warm welcome for me, Catravious?_"

"'Welcome' isn't exactly the word that came to mind, Janet." Knowledge admitted.

"_Aw, are you still hurting from that beating you took from me? Poor boy. Your pride hasn't healed as fast as your scrapes._"

"Where are you?"

"_Why do you want to know? Why should I tell you?_"

"Because I want whoever I'm talking to gone and the real Janet Rush back!"

"_You ever think that Janet might be happier, that I might be happier, as I am now?_"

That gave Knowledge pause.

"_That weak girl is gone. All those insecurities, all the self-doubt, fear and hesitation that made her up…they're gone now. I've been reborn as someone stronger._"

"Stronger? How? Tell me how you've become stronger."

"_You don't know the old saying 'What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger?'_"

"A saying made you stronger? Is that it?"

"_No, but maybe it's better if I actually show you how much stronger I am. You remember the square where we met? Two hours._"

* * *

"So nothing to do huh?" RJ said, now working on a laptop on top of his counter.

Terry nodded. Jamie had decided to look at the kids' duels but Knowledge was still on his cell phone. "Pretty much, now that Battle City is done with. Plus I just haven't felt in the mood to duel lately."

"Yeah, I guess a match like that could kill your spirits for awhile. Nothing will top that match. That was intense!" RJ exclaimed from his seat.

Terry nodded, realizing the cover-up was still in place. Everyone in attendance had chalked up the effects and drama and…injuries…to being well-placed and more of a drama effect than anything. The whole match had unfolded out as something that belonged in the movies and that's what people believed. Which suited Terry fine, he didn't want to be hounded about Games of Darkness or how the monsters looked so much more real than the holograms of the Solid Vision System in the Duel Disks.

"Hey, check this out for a sec, Terry." RJ turned his laptop so Terry could look at the monitor. RJ was currently looking at a message board that was frequented by a lot of duelists. The forum topic…"The F/X Champ!" There was one topic that was centered in the page that RJ seemed to be looking at.

"I could beat Terry on my worst day!!! I hate noobs like him, and what's his deal with the cards he uses? Reverse Trap? Sasuke Samurai? My monarchs would pwn his ass! Then I'd take that Scorpio Dragon off of him!"

Terry let out a sigh. Like he had said, he was grateful that there was a cover-up…but not thrilled about it. Comments like this were rampant through the internet. Even some prominent sites listed it as "obviously an un-rigged match, but F/X that put The Matrix to shame, a plot dying dogs could write better, but worse, put duelists to shame in this city."

"Yeah, Knowledge isn't the only one with his share of problems I see." RJ noted.

"Well, nothing I can do about it." Terry said, scrolling down to look at other posts. "I don't duel to change peoples opinions of me, I do it for the fun and for the competition." _Or on occasion to save the future and potential lives..._

"Cheer up, Terry. Let 'em say what they want, but most of those guys were probably out there competing with you and didn't make it very far at all. I'm still surprised that the three of you made it into the final six duelists. Makes for good business to say that half of the finalists came from my store."

Terry raised up from the counter, a thought occurring to him. "You didn't happen to say that 'I' come here a lot, did you?"

RJ shook his head, "Nah, I didn't want to make you into a walking bullseye. Plus, Upperdeck won't let me anyway. Privacy issues and junk with lawyers that I don't wanna deal with."

Terry was relieved.

"By the way, where is Knowledge?" RJ asked.

* * *

"So what are we going to do?"

"We will go to Millstone City, retrieve them, and return."

"Savior, I don't think its going to be that simple."

"I have a plan. We'll need help to execute it, but it should keep us hidden."

"And keep us secret as well?"

"Of course. These are the ones we'll use."

"I know of this one."

"Him?"

"Yes. They call him the 'King of Games' in America."

"It shouldn't make much difference, it will keep the authorities busy while we slip away. That's all we should need to recover the Dragon Bones. Send only one and use some of your sleepers to assist your candidate."

* * *

Terry and Jamie had left Rolling Stock looking to get some food in their stomachs. Fortunately, there was a really nice pizza shop not even two blocks away from RJ's store so they all set out. They entered, ordered, and sipped on their sodas while their pizza was cooking.

"Hey Jamie, whatever happened to that Natasha chick?" Terry idly knocked some ice in his glass around, opting to wait for his pizza before drinking soda.

"What about her?" he asked while chugging down his root beer.

"Well, I heard off Knowledge that you two were close or something? You hitting that?" Terry asked, a lecherous grin on his face.

Jamie looked at his friend with a shocked expression, choking and coughing up his root beer. "What? Not a chance!"

"Sure…" Terry took a long drag on his soda before flipping up his own cell phone that had started ringing. He opened it up to see the number was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

_"Can I talk to Terry Hairston?"_

Terry got a chill in his spine. The last time someone called him and asked him the exact same thing, it let to his first meeting with Re'-Sha.

"…This is him." He said, hesitantly.

"_Ah, I hope you're having a good afternoon."_

"…I am…"

_"Terry, I'm calling on behalf of Upperdeck, my name is Bruce Warren, the Director of Marketing of our company."_

_An Upperdeck telemarketer? _Terry thought to himself. "What does Upperdeck want from me now?"

_"Well, basically, to give you money."_

That got Terry's complete attention in an instant. His silence was Bruce's signal to continue.

_"As the Champion of the recent Battle City tournament, you received our crystal Duel Disk as you prize. But a decision has been made to market the duels on a DVD. Without getting too legal and confusing, we basically need your permission to use your face and likeness and your own duels on our DVD."_

Terry smirked and said, "Milk it for all it's worth, huh?"

_"Heh, very sharp, Terry. But basically yes, it's an opportunity we wouldn't pass up on. So we are prepared to offer you an initial, shall we say, "signing bonus" for 4,500.00 and a 6% share of all the profits of the DVD's we sell. Sounds tempting?"_

Terry didn't believe his ears and Jamie didn't believe the look on his friends face. Whatever he was talking about on the phone must've been pretty important.

"D-Did you say-"

_"Yep, I did. And just so you're aware, we expect to pull in about a couple million from releasing this DVD, so this could mean a check in the 10-40,000.00 range down the line."_

"Excuse me one second…"

At that moment, the waitress had brought Terry and Jamie's pizza to their table. And as Jamie was about to reach for his wallet to pay for it, Terry reached across the table and patted him on the shoulder, still with the phone to his ear. Jamie looked at Terry with a confused expression on his face as Terry reached for his own wallet and pulled a 20.00 and 10.00 bill out and handed it to the waitress.

"But the check was only 17.00." she protested.

Terry smiled. "I can afford it now."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the story!


	2. Jamie and Natasha vs Xavier Part I

Since i didn't do it for the first Chapter, i'll do it now. For all upcoming chapters and the previous one, i hold no rights to any Yu-Gi-Oh property. I only own my created characters and i'm not making a buck off this.

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh: Traitorous Savior

SOMEWHERE IN JAPAN

For a country as small as it is, its influence on the world is bizarre to think about. Aside from being a world leader in major electronics and cuisine, as well as having a rich culture and beautiful lands, Lamar Vega looks at Japan as the birthplace of his card game he plays with all he's capable of.

Just barely two years ago, when he was 15, he received a large sum of money from an unknown benefactor while he was an orphan. And he used that money to travel to one place where he had wanted to go. Tokyo. It was a dream to him then. The lights and the people inspired him and taught him there was more to life than the so-called American Dream. It was a trip then that will stick with him until the day he dies.

But the main reason for that trip had been for information. He basically brought the clothes off his back, the money he'd recieved and the dueling deck he had made while in that orphanage as his only luggage. He spent days in and out of game parlors and malls and store lots playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with anyone that would give him time. And he lost a lot of those games. Japanese players were so much more skilled and thoughtful in the creation of their decks and their own individual playing styles.

It was one day that he met an older woman who looked to be in her late 40's or early 50's surrounded by some teenagers that were watching her and another young man play a duel. They were playing on a stone table in a park usually reserved for checkers or chess. Vega sauntered over, peering over the top of the teens though many of them were probably older than he was. The duel was in its final stages and as the last move was played by the woman for the game, she offered a warm smile to her opponent and extended her hand in the customary gesture for a good, friendly duel. He accepted and the crowd dispersed with that defeat. Vega remained with the woman, wanting to have a duel against her. She accepted and over the course of what seemed like minutes, Vega was defeated again. Having never touched his opponent's Life Points.

"Tch…" Vega grunted, frustrated at this terrible performance.

"It was a fun duel." the woman chirped, who he learned was named Suzuku. Though she was a full blooded Japanese woman, she carried a very unique name. Marcia Suzuku. Vega looked up from his scattered cards on his side of the table at the woman who was giving him a genuine smile. It instantly killed the bad mood he was in.

"You do have some interesting cards, though." Suzuku said, picking up one of Vega's cards and looking it over. Vega's deck was full of cards that were written in English. Fortunately for him, a lot of Japanese had a very good grasp of the English language. That, plus the fact that most of the cards the Japanese players had seen or know what they do in their own native language. Although, like Marcia, they were intrigued with the English cards.

"They're the best that I have. But I've lost more duels than won." Vega said glumly.

"And why is that?" Suzuku asked, still looking at the card.

"Huh? Well…I've been trying to figure that out myself…" Marcia looked up from the card at Vega as he continued. "I think that I play well enough…I just don't know what it is."

They were both quiet for a moment after that. But it was Suzuku that made the first move. She stood up and moved over to Vega's side of the table and once again offered her hand. Vega looked at it and then up to its owner.

"How about we find out together?"

That was how it started. From that point on, Suzuku had taken Vega into her small house. Though she was a great duelist in his mind, she was a stricter trainer and teacher. She destroyed a lot of what he previously held as truth and law to the game and taught him how the game should be played. It was a long three months that he lived but remembering it seems like the blink of an eye. It was after he left Suzuku to return to America that he took a little time to go duel once again. And it was a remarkable change in that he lost not one duel. He rode that confidence back to the United States where he started his career of dominating the Duel King Tournaments and various private ones. It was that stretch where, at first jokingly but becoming serious, he was dubbed 'King of Games' for his handling of opponents by his dueling peers.

Until the day he met Terry Hairston.

In the two losses that he suffered to him, he felt like everything that he had been taught had been destroyed by a rookie. A no-name duelist that had walked into his kingdom and overthrew the emperor. After his last match with him in the semi-finals of Battle City, he felt a swirl of emotions about the defeat. Everything from frustration and disappointment to out-and-out anger and rage. But now it had developed and molded itself into a kind of self-loathing.

So after the tournament ended, he traveled back to Japan to meet with his old 'sensei' for awhile. It was a great feeling for him to get away in a place he felt comfortable with but still surprised him with new things to see on every street. But he found himself outside Suzuku's home; an apartment over the top of a small, modest shoe store on the corner of an intersection. A wooden staircase on the side of the building led to her front door. Vega climbed up the steps and gave the solid white door three sharp knocks. A small rustle and the unlocking of a lock and the door opened to reveal an Japanese woman in her 50's, now sporting streaks of grey through her long black hair. She was skinnier compared to most Asians, but not very tall at 5'5". She wore a small choker necklace with a small locket around the chain. She wore a knee length, dark blue sundress with sandals that suited her well. Vega looked at her and couldn't help but smile like seeing a good friend for the first time in a long time.

"Lamar!" she yelled, then lunged and grasped him firmly in a hug on top of her steps, forcing Vega to take a step back to steady himself. He looked down at the top of the woman's head who had buried her face in his chest and smoothed out the top of her head. She let go of him and looked up at him, her eyes just a little watery.

"How are you, Suzuku-san?" Vega chuckled, knowing very well she was doing pretty good at the moment. He said this in English as her own English was very good, just heavily accented. Vega's Japanese was just barely good enough to get by.

"Very good, Lamar. You look good. Still foolish for wearing your hair like that."

"What's wrong with my hair?" Vega asked, running a hand through it, letting his gold locks pass over his fingers.

"Looks silly."

"I don't care." came the simultaneous response from both Vega and Suzuku.

_She still remembers things like that,_ he thought to himself.

"Come, come!" Suzuku said, pulling him by his hand into her apartment. Her own front door led into a small kitchen that he was quickly pulled past, though the smell of sticky buns almost made him stop. Right through the kitchen was a large living room with two couches along the walls and a coffee table and bookshelf that housed a old, faded black jewelry chest. A decent sized LCD TV was hanging on the wall playing, what he thought, was the Japanese stock exchange. Pictures of her in various stages of her life were scattered around the walls, and a few of them were of her and Vega. Others contained grandchildren and other family members with her.

"Sit!" she said, pulling him down into one of the sofas as she took a seat next to him. He welcomed the rest, walking through the streets, however crowded, was much better than paying the cab fare for going place to place. But this place hadn't changed since he last saw it. Everything looked the same and it brought some fond memories back to him of what it felt like to have a home. And to have someone there waiting that cared.

"Why haven't you changed the place around a bit, Suzuku-san?" letting his eyes wander around the living room and take in all the old sights.

Suzuku set her tea down. "I like this. Doesn't change because I don't want it to."

"But it might look better a new way."

"No. I like it like this. But why you come, Lamar?"

Vega lowered his head, staring a hole into the carpet below him.

"Because…I need guidance." Vega hammered out.

"Guidance?" Suzuku wondered aloud. "Guidance?"

"About why I lost."

A light seemed to come on in Suzuku's eyes. Vega wasn't paying attention but she reached for her DVD player's remote and hit "PLAY". Vega was startled by the loudness of the DVD that got his attention as a explosion played on the TV. He looked up to see a very familiar sight.

"Hey, isn't that…"

"Your duel in America." Suzuku finished. "Love DVR, no?"

It was the turn right as Terry's monter, The Omnibus - Epsilon made his move and destroyed his dragon. He knew the feeling and remembered it all too well, but watching himself made it look that much more pathetic. He tried to bow his head and look away but he felt Suzuku's hand gently tilt his chin up to look at her instead.

"Why you confused about? You duel like expert and fought best you could. That was a great match!" she was beaming and smiling but though Vega was looking right at her, he couldn't share in that smile. He had a clouded, saddened look on his face. Suzuku noticed it and slowly lowered her hand away from his chin. Vega stood up, walking toward the window that looked over the streets. A long sigh left him. "I know, Suzuku-san, I know. I actually don't feel regrets. I just can't figure out why I'm…"

A soft chuckle from behind him made Vega turn around and saw Suzuku staring at him. She sat on the couch with her legs crossed, leaning forward with her arms crossed on top of her knees. "Lamar, after watching you on TV, with you here, I see you change. You change from boy to adult. You put your…_tamashii, _your soul_…_in the game, took what I taught, and grew. Lamar, to me, you STILL growing."

Suzuku stood up and walked around her coffee table to gaze at the black jewelry box on her bookshelf. A small bit of dust had gathered on it and she carefully took it and sat down at the couch again with the box on her table. "Old saying, Lamar. I believe it Chinese. Very simple. It goes 'No man can step into the same river twice.' You know what it means?"

Lamar thought about it but couldn't think of a satisfying answer. But he turned to face Suzuku, recalling her fondness of using proverbs and old sayings to explain things that confused or puzzled him.

"The river…represent time, Lamar. Time always go forward, never backwards. Just as a river will never run the opposite way its run since it started. Time is constant through the universe… what you see out that window today…will not be the same thing as tomorrow. You can stand in that same spot for a whole day, but it will never look the same. We all servants to it, Lamar. Time can turn things from stronger to weaker or weaker to stronger."

"Through your time as a duelist, Lamar, you met, defeated many opponents. Some strong, some weak. Just like ebb and tide of water in river. But if you meet them all today, you think they have same strength, same strategy, same deck as you remember? Or you to them?"

"Suzuku-san…"

Suzuku leaned forward again and reached to open her jewelry box. She was still smiling but it was a small, almost courtesy one as Vega continued.

"Suzuku-san, I understand."

"You understand? So why you troubled now? What happened to you when you lose, Lamar?"

Vega, who was never short for words, found himself for a second time without a satisfactory answer. That one loss burned at him more than any he had ever had in his life. Terry's skills were sharp, as were his. His deck was constructed well, as was his. Their strategies were different, but no less solid. But through it all, in the end, he was the loser and Terry was the winner. Nothing would change that, like Suzuku had said. But even though he had all this time to think about the answer for it, he was no closer to uncovering what it was.

A pat on his shoulder roused him from his thoughts and he was face to face again with Suzuku, who looked at him and just wrapped him up in a hug. Vega didn't know what to do and just stood there with his arms akimbo. She let go and looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes that piqued Vega's interest.

"But I think I know exactly what it is."

"What?" Vega exclaimed.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure of it."

* * *

Terry was nibbling at the last bite of his pizza, dipping the crust into a small bowl of ranch dipping sauce and savoring the feeling of being able to practically buy anything he wanted. And he loved every greedy second of it!

"So what happens now?" Jamie asked Terry, having been fully briefed on how his friend was now a lot wealthier than before and that he was most likely due some himself.

"Not sure." Terry mumured. "But I guess I'll save most of it. And get myself some more cards."

"Guess you gotta. Now that you're a dueling champion and everything, you gotta stay on top of your game."

"No, it's not really that." Terry mused. "It's just…I got this feeling in the back of my head that my game is not as strong as it could be. Or as it should be."

Jamie raised his eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Before Terry could respond, both Jamie and Terry caught a movement out of the corner of their eyes and turned to see a young American Caucasian young man with a Duel Disk walking up toward them.

"I finally found you, Terry Hairston. And you too, punk."

Jamie turned to look at whoever had decided to call him a punk. He didn't initially recognize the voice. But once Jamie recognized the face, he stopped looking at the newcomer curiously. He stood up and stepped in front of the table. Terry watched wondering what was going on because it was clearly apparent that Jamie and this new guy did not like each other. They stood glaring at each other, practically nose-to-nose, measuring each other.

"You got some balls calling me a punk, Xavier." Jamie growled. He recalled from Battle City the duel he had against him. He teamed up with Knowledge to take on a tag team of him and Natasha. It was during that duel that Jamie learned of what kind of dick he was and was proved by Xavier's walking out of the duel. He claimed Natasha was holding him back.

"It fits you like a glove, Cantou. I call it like I see it." Xavier retorted back.

Jamie remembered the last time he had seen Michael Xavier. It was actually the first time that he had met this young upstart duelist. It had been a chance meeting where he found Knowledge and his lady friend Janet Rush outside of a dueling clan's haunt. One that Janet Rush was a member of and was run by Natasha, Clan Prime. After Knowledge mouthed off to Natasha and she insisted on a duel, a tag team duel was suggested by Jamie which pitted him and Knowledge against Xavier and Natasha. They wagered Puzzle Cards from the recent Battle City tournament with Natasha reluctantly taking one of her clan-mates Puzzle Cards at their request. During the duel, Xavier called Natasha out as a weak duelist and leader of a weak clan that was holding him back and walked out of the duel. He gave Jamie a little farewell in the way of disrespecting him and Jamie, thankfully, hadn't heard from him since. Until today. Now he was standing face to face with him.

"Just what do you want, Xavier?" Jamie asked, trying to back up and not pick a fight with Xavier. Although if he wanted it to come to that, Jamie though he wouldn't have a issue with it.

"Today? Nothing to do with you. Nice to see that you're still proud enough to walk with that goofy face of yours." Xavier said with a small smile. He then looked past him. "My business has to do with the champion over there!"

Terry glared disapprovingly at the newcomer. Apparently Jamie knew him and didn't like him. And if Jamie didn't like you, there had to be something very wrong with you. Jamie had not made one enemy in his life, and Terry was staring at the first. Add to the fact that he was rapidly losing cool points with Terry and he hadn't known him more than 60 seconds.

"You have no business with me, Xavier. I have no beef with you." Terry instead stated.

"I want a duel against the champion; the duelist that defeated the King of Games, Lamar Vega, the guy that is the best that this city has to offer. And you're going to give it to me…" Xavier stepped past Jamie and leaned into the table Terry was still sitting at.

"I refuse." Terry said, now choosing to stand up as well. Quite a few other onlookers were interested in this conversation developing in the middle of the restaurant.

"You're declining a challenger? And I have to look to you as the best that every duelist here could bring up?" Xavier was burning with a surprising bit of passion for his part.

Terry closed his eyes, exasperated at where this was going. "Trying to rile me up won't work."

Xavier kept at it. "What? You can't be much worse than your boy, Jamie."

Jamie, who had kept himself out of the conversation, was starting to feel his blood boil. And despite his abhorring conflicts, Terry was not one to let insults to his friends go very easily Yet they both remained silent and let Xavier egg them on some more.

"I mean, it took two of them to dare to take me on and more than likely, I could do it again and beat the both of you if I even-"

Since Xavier had his back to Jamie, he never noticed Jamie approach him but Terry, who was facing Xavier and could see Jamie, could. The last line has set him off. He made no move to stop him. Jamie grabbed the collar of Xavier's collar and yanked him backwards. It caught Xavier off-guard and he tripped backwards and stumbled into the table Jamie and Terry were sitting at before, knocking over a water glass that shattered on the hard floor below. That caught the entire restaurant's attention and all eyes were on the trio of young men. One with a fire in his eyes grabbing another that was just smirking at him and another that was scowling at them both. The waitress that had served Jamie and Terry asked all three of them to leave the restaurant immediately, which they all did peacefully. Xavier led the way out the door with Jamie right behind and Terry taking the rear. As soon as they all exited, the conversation continued.

"Is that how you see it?" Jamie snarled. Terry looked over at Jamie, surprised to see him so riled up. He stood next to him, while Xavier stood in front of them with his hands in his pockets. "You don't think I could beat you one-on-one?"

"I KNOW that you can't beat me one-on-one. So I came to beat the Battle City Champion and present that title to someone really deserving of it. I trained my ass off to compete for Battle City. I won't acknowledge a duelist like THAT as the best that this city can offer. Hell, he's so messed up, he thinks he's a dueling legend or something with that fake Millennium Puzzle on his neck."

"You're really messed up in the head…" Terry exhaled, trying not to let his own anger get the best of him. He was not winning that battle.

"The only one messed up in the head is you for wearing this dorky junk!" Xavier stepped forward and flicked his hand across the puzzle around Terry neck. Terry automatically responded by giving him a rough one-handed shove to keep Xavier out of his space. But he was starting to really anger both Terry and Jamie. Terry set his bookbag down and fished his crystal Duel Disk out, applying it to his arm. The afternoon sun reflected off its shined surface and it stood out proudly as the Champion's Duel Disk.

"You just earned yourself a real-ooof!" Terry exhaled loudly as Jamie's flat palm smacked him in the chest unexpectedly. He glanced down at the hand then up to its owner.

"Naw, Terry. He's mine and all mine." was all Jamie said, with his own Duel Disk now strapped to his arm.

"I didn't come for you, ass wipe. I came to beat him, so get out of my way!" Xavier roared, moving away from Jamie so that he and Terry were both staring at each other while Jamie continued to put himself between them.

Jamie narrowed his eyes. "So are YOU now refusing a challenge?"

Xavier looked at Jamie and rolled his eyes. "You aren't even worth the time it'll take to shuffle my deck, so begone, dog!"

Much as he was trying to hold it back, Terry could feel the urge to fling Xavier head first into a street lamp starting to grow.

"Michael Xavier!"

It was a woman's voice that had rang out. Terry didn't recognize it. He turned to see a woman standing in the parking lot with them. She had fairly long blonde hair and blue eyes and some big guns. At first glance, a typical American girl. But there were subtle differences once you stopped looking at the obvious. The hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail instead of flowing about. The eyes were sharp and quick, not ditzy. A total absence of makeup to her face. No earrings. She wore a just above the knee sundress that hugged her body and a small purse hung off her hip. A Duel Disk attached to her own arm completed the package. A pair of sandals completed the package and although she did look good, she shared the same kind of look in her eyes that Jamie and Terry had. A none-too-happy-to-see-Xavier look.

"Natasha-sensei…" Xavier said under his breath, spitefully. He glanced and saw the look of brief confusion on Terry's face because of his use of Japanese titles and neither he or Natasha were Japanese. He ignored the guy's look.

"Natasha, what are you doing out here?" Jamie said. He hadn't even turned to look at her; he was focused on Xavier, though he heard her footsteps approaching on the gravel.

"Redemption." was her simple response.

"Redemption?" came a three way response from Xavier, Terry and Jamie.

"Yeah, I came to make amends to Michael."

"Make amends to this guy?!" Terry exploded. This was his first time meeting Natasha Chapel, but he couldn't see how she could forgive so easily.

Xavier smirked an arrogant half smile and looked at Natasha as she stood side by side with Jamie. But he was anything but happy to see her. "She came to offer her forgiveness to me for holding my skills back. For not developing my talents like she could've." His voice rose with each accusation. "For taking the title that belonged to me and that that punk Terry now carries. For denying me my right!"

Jamie looked at Natasha. "Did you…"

Natasha looked over at Jamie, "Don't misunderstand me. I did come here for redemption…" Natasha allowed her Duel Disk to click into place and she grabbed a deck of cards from her purse, setting them into place. She stepped forward, ahead of Jamie and Terry to stand in front of Xavier.

She began to speak with a suppressed level of calmness to her voice, but as she went along, it began to rise. "I came here for redemption for my clan, Xavier. Discipline, respect, patience; the three prime principals of my clan. You broke the second principal, you embarrassed my clan, one you were a part of. What you said about me, what you did representing my clan, I won't let that slide. You disregarded everything I taught you about humility and insulted me and the whole clan you represented. Don't even expect me to roll over like a dog on what I worked so hard to create! Not now, not ever!"

"Pssh, if you want it that way, Natasha-sensei then-" Xavier said casually.

"You're damn right I want it that way, Xavier!" Natasha cut in, a fierceness rising in her voice. "If you really believe that I held you back…then let's let this duel show just how far behind me you REALLY are!"

Xavier winced. He had a memory pass by him of a time he saw Natasha as upset as she was now. It did not end well.

Jamie looked at Natasha. Just from her tone of voice, he could tell that any idea of being nice on Xavier was long gone. He knew of her principals to her clan that she tried to instill into the members, discipline, respect and patience. She was pissed in the worst kind of way that he had disrespected her. But he was still not ready to roll over himself and let Natasha take a duel from him that he was seeking.

"Xavier, if you're so good, what do you say to a 2-on-1 duel?" Jamie suggested.

Natasha wheeled around on her sandals. "Mind you own business!"

"This WAS my business before your came here, Natasha, and I want in on this duel. What do you say, Xavier? Show the King of Duelists over here that you're the great challenger that you make yourself out to be."

"King of Duelists?" Terry said to himself, turning it over in his mind. …_I guess King of Duelists works. Vega's title of King of Games makes it sound like I'm biting his coattails..._

Xavier took half a moment to consider it. "Two weaklings or one, it doesn't matter to me. But if it's the two of you that I get to bury at the same time, then I accept!"

Natasha took several steps to her side, allowing Jamie some space. Jamie, who had his Duel Disk equipped to his arm, started it up and set his deck in it.

"Don't get in my way, Jamie…" warned Natasha.

Jamie nodded his head.

Xavier set up the rules for this duel. The order of turns would have him stagger between his two opponents. So Xavier would lead, then Natasha, then Xavier again, then Jamie. But no one would be allowed to attack until each duelist had a first turn. So though Xavier would have a 2nd turn before Jamie has his 1st, he would not be allowed to attack. Each duelist would have 4000 Life Points and in the case of Jamie and Natasha, if one duelist lost, play would continue until both of them lost all their Life Points. There would be no shared fields, so neither Jamie nor Natasha could use the other's monster for a shield or as a sacrifice for a sacrifice summon. However, effects of monsters, spells and traps that could target a duelist or monster work normally.

"I'll go first." Xavier announced. "Draw." He just made a small glance at his hand and ended his turn. Jamie wrinkled his brow at that move.

"My turn! Draw!" Natasha ripped the top card from her deck and glanced down at it, then showed it to Xavier.

"I'll discard Zeradias, Herald of Heaven (2100/800) from my hand to activate its effect." Natasha said, raising her arm with her Duel Disk attached to it to vertical and slipped her card into her graveyard. "When I send Zeradias to the graveyard…"

A single card slipped out from the middle of her deck and she took it into her hands, again showing Xavier the card.

"…i can bring the Field Spell Card, The Sanctuary in the Sky, from my deck to my hand. And I'll play it now!"

The ground around all three of them began to become hazy and cloudy. Patches of blue could be seen on the ground below them through the haze. Off in the distance behind Natasha stood a grandiose citadel with a grey rotunda and tall pillars lining it. The sky around them became blue as well as they stood within the holy 'ground' for angels and fairies.

"The Sanctuary in the Sky's field effect is that any controller of a Fairy-Type monster that does battle has the damage reduced to 0. If I remember right, Xavier, your fusion deck doesn't harbor Fairy-Type monsters."

Xavier looked around at his new surroundings, but answered Natasha by saying that was partially right.

"What?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I'm not the type to sit and stay with one decktype. Let's say that I found something with a lot more potential that my older fusion deck. I fought with that deck for a long time and I created something stronger from that…since a stronger duelist requires a stronger deck." He smirked and just looked down at his hand cards.

Natasha studied her former student. _He's using a new decktype? He had used a deck with some odd fusions like Master of Oz and Reaper on the Nightmare. They were his best cards in his deck. Frankly, his deck was not very coherent. But he's changed it to something new now..._She glanced into her hand cards. _He'll have to make it known what deck he's using in the next turn._ "I'll play Royal Knight (1300/800) in attack mode!"

A rectangular flash lit up a small section of Natasha's field and a small vortex of clouds started to spiral around that light. After a moment or two of hanging in the air, it fell away like a veil and Natasha's monster was shown; an angel with sleek silver armor. Its wings were attached to floating orbs which were in turn attached to some kind of connectors on its shoulder blades. "I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Natasha announced.

On the sidelines, Terry was impressed with that play as well. _Her skills look to be every bit as good as everyone says about her so far. But this is still a handicapped match to her favor..._

"Well done, Natasha-sensei, for finding one of your ace cards so fast." Xavier spat at Natasha, unpleased with her play. _Royal Knight has an effect where it can let its controller gain Life Points equal to the monster that it destroyed defense points._

"Just get on with it, Xavier. Don't chide me." Natasha replied.

"Oh well, whatever you want…" Xavier said, drawing his next card, but smirking at the nasty glare Natasha was giving him. He smirked down at his card and held it up for both Natasha and Jamie to see. They both noticed that he had two cards in his hand cards that were raised higher than the others.

"I'll play Polymerization." Xavier stated, slipping the card into his Spell/Trap Card zone and making the card materialize on the field. He then picked up the two cards both duelists noticed and flipped them to show them. "I'll fuse Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200) and Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) from my hand into…"

"That kind of deck!?" Terry blurted out.

"E-Heros?!" Jamie exclaimed.

"He didn't…" Natasha muttered, her eyes widening.

"I'll Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Mariner (1400/1000) in attack mode." Xavier's two fusion material monsters appeared briefly on the field, a green skinned male monster with feather wings and a masked face and a blue armored masked male monster with a similarly colored cape and a blaster equipped to his left arm. They both disappeared in a flash of yellow sparks and they were replaced by a single male monster. This one was a pale blue skinned monster with wild, blue hair that reached halfway down its back. The most striking feature of this monster was the twin set of steel anchors tied to each of its forearms by heavy steel chains.

"Somehow, I don't think an Elemental Hero deck suits you, Xavier." Jamie said. "I see nothing noble or righteous about you."

"Well, _somehow_, I think I can live without you approving of me, Jamie." was the reply that Xavier offered back. "I worked my butt off to make myself stronger than you. Stronger than the both of you. I'm not concerned about your opinions of me, just the task of defeating the two of you. Overcoming the two hurdles I have in my life right now to make that next step."

Natasha took all this in, looking closely at Xavier's eyes while he talked. He didn't look to be putting them on, or lying. He seemed to realistically believe that she and Jamie were challenges that he needed to overcome to get better. Which caused her to think, did she actually hold him back while in her clan?

Jamie didn't seem to believe him. "You come out trying to disrespect me and Terry and _now_ you come out with some kind of humble reason for trying to beat me? Don't kid around with me. I'm not an idiot."

Xavier didn't reply to him. "My turn isn't finished yet. I'll set three reverse cards to end it."

A line of face-down cards appeared behind Xavier's monster as Jamie announced his turn and drew his card. He selected one card out of his hand. _After my turn, everyone can attack, but right now, Xavier has too many reverse cards out for my liking to make a move at him right now..._

"I'll summon Blast Magician (1400/1700) in defense mode." A horizontal image of Blast Magician appeared on his field and the monster, a spellcaster in a crimson garb, appeared kneeling on that card. It seemed kind of out of place given that they were all literally standing in the air due to Natasha's Field Spell Card. He looked directly at Natasha as he set a reverse card in his Duel Disk, hoping she could read his intention. She nodded, not looking at him, but seeing what he was doing and let a small smile creep into the corner of her lips. "End turn."

"My turn. Draw!" Xavier drew his card, glanced at it, and then gestured his arm toward his monster. "Elemental Hero – Mariner, (1400/1000) attack Natasha directly!"

"Directly?!" Terry said out loud.

Even before Xavier had finished making his attack order, Mariner had let both of the anchors tied to his arms fall away with small clicking noises as the chains clipped against each other and he started swinging them in a circle in each of his hands. He then let them fly, like iron arrows with chains attached, toward Natasha and not her monster like she expected. She was too startled to make a move to dodge and the chains ensnared her, tying her down and squeezing her arms and sides painfully. They did release after a moment and she dropped down to one knee, watching her Life Counter drop from 4000 to 2600.

XAVIER: 3000

NATASHA: 2600  
JAMIE: 4000

"Why, you…" Natasha tried to get out.

"Elemental Hero Mariner's special effect." Xavier stated. "When I have 1 or more face down Spell or Trap Cards on my field, I can attack my opponent directly. And since your Field Spell Card, The Sanctuary in the Sky only guards against battle damage and not direct damage, your Field Spell Card can't help you against my monster, Natasha-san."

Natasha let out an audible grunt of displeasure as she got back to a standing position, scowling at Xavier and his monster. But she turned it into a playful smirk.

"That's a smart play.…"

Xavier didn't like that look. Jamie himself, didn't know what she was talking about. She almost looked happy that she was just cut down.

"But I'll return the strike you gave me with my own monster."

Xavier let out a small chuckle. "Let's see that."

"My turn. Draw!" Natasha said. She glanced over her shoulder at Jamie. He gave her the same nod she had given him. She decided to go with her gut and trust her instincts.

"Royal Knight (1300/800), attack Mariner! (1400/1000)"

With two quick flaps of its wings, Natasha's monster lifted off from its standing position in the sky. It had a blue steel sword drawn and as it extended its wings fully, it glided down toward narrowed his eyes, unsure of what she was trying to accomplish but Jamie cut into his thoughts.

"At this moment, Set Card, Open! Magician Illusion #5!"

_Magician Illusion #5?_ Terry wondered to himself. He looked at the card, a Normal Spell Card that had a picture of a magician dressed in a tuxedo and tall hat walking through a wall and his body was halfway though it. _That's a new card I haven't seen Jamie use before..._

"This is a very nice Spell Card, Xavier. With it, by discarding 1 card from my hand, I can make the ATK of one monster on the field 2000 until the End Phase of the turn I used it. Of course, the monster that I select is Natasha's attacking Royal Knight!"

The angelic knight's sword started glowing in a blue green tint and started to grow longer as a counter appeared on the field showing its new ATK at 2000 points.

Xavier, however, just sneered at Jamie. "Are you sure about that? Trap Card, Open! Dark Deal!"

A Trap Card on Xavier's field flipped up showing a card with a picture of a ghostly figure dressed in black garb dealing with a human, much like its name suggested.

"This Trap Card has a Life Point cost of 1000 to activate." Xavier said, raising his Duel Disk so both Natasha and Jamie could see his Life Counter drop to 3000. "But it can only target Normal Spell Cards, specifically your Magician's Illusion. This card makes the effect of your card change, Jamie!"

XAVIER: 3000

NATASHA: 2600  
JAMIE: 4000

"What?!" Jamie blurted out, looking at the face up backside of his Spell Card slowly turn to face him. When it finished turning, the card's face started to shift and distort itself so it matched the face of Xavier's Dark Deal Trap Card. And he could see the text of his card changing as well, which he read aloud.

"'Discard 1 random card from your hand?' You little…" Jamie growled between clenched teeth, watching a card be plucked from his hand by the Spell Card itself and discarded to his graveyard. Meanwhile, since the original effect of his Spell Card no longer worked, Natasha's monster continued on toward Elemental Hero Mariner. Natasha's knight raised its sword as it dashed toward its enemy and it collided nosily against one of Mariner's anchors. The two struggled against each other for a few more moments until with a rough shove, Mariner backed Royal Knight back a few steps. More than enough for it to lead in with a uppercut to Royal Knigh's midsection, leading with the tip of the anchor. Natasha's lead monster groaned fiercely as it exploded in a blast of multicolored polygons, which she tried to shield herself from by crossing her arms over her face. Natasha muttered a curse under her breath as she heard her own Life Counter drop a little.

XAVIER: 3000

NATASHA: 2500  
JAMIE: 4000

Xavier, with a mean scowl on his brow but a smirk on his lips, looked at his two opponent's. "Even combined, you two can't take down my monster?!"


	3. Jamie and Natasha vs Xavier Part II

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

Natasha tried not to let that intrusive idea that she's to blame for Xavier's corruption not bother her. But he was demonstrating to them that he wasn't as weak as she may have believed him to be. Or that she may have taken him for granted in this opening turn."Well, that's because I'm not done yet, Xavier." Natasha said instead, sweeping her arm toward her face down card. "Set Card, Open! Light of Judgement!"

When Natasha's Trap Card flipped up onto the field, the clouds below and above the position of Xavier's Elemental Hero Mariner, bathing it in sunlight. The monster looked up at the opening in the clouds about it. She selected a card out of her hand, flashing it to Xavier so he could see her Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000) in her hand.

"Light of Judgement requires that I have The Sanctuary in the Sky on the field before I can use it. When I use it, however, I must discard a Light-Type monster from my hand to the graveyard. But I can use this Trap Card to either select one card in your hand or one card on your field and send it to the graveyard. Of course, the card that I select is your Elemental Hero Mariner!"

"Tch…" Xavier exhaled, watching as his monster started to just fade away as if it didn't exist within the halo of light that was surrounding it. The monster disappeared, the light vanished and he turned to glare at Natasha disdainfully.

_With Mariner gone, I don't have to worry about being attacked directly,_ Natasha thought to herself._ The problem now is that I don't have a monster in my hand to defend myself with..._ She picked up two cards from her hand, furrowing her brow. _I can't let these little thoughts keep bothering me. I can't lose this duel. I cannot lose this duel!_

"I set two reverse cards! Then I discard Radiant Jeral from my hand to the graveyard." Natasha slipped the card from her hand into her graveyard slot, watching as her Duel Disk came alive with a soft light that enveloped her.

"What is this?" Xavier motioned with his hand toward Natasha.

"By discarding Radiant Jeral (1000/2000) from my hand to the graveyard while The Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I can gain 1000 Life Points. End turn."

XAVIER: 3000

NATASHA: 3500  
JAMIE: 4000

"My turn! Draw!" Xavier looked down at his card, smirked at it, then looked up at Natasha. "It doesn't seem to be your day, Natasha-san. I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) in attack mode!"

Xavier's card appeared on the field and a burst of electricity shot out and scattered all over the field, temporarily blinding Jamie and Natasha. They both grew accustomed to it enough to make out the silhouette and then full image of a blue and yellow armored monster. It wore a visor that covered its face fully.

"Attack Natasha directly!" Xavier commanded, pointing toward Natasha with an open palm.

Sparkman crouched slightly and made a giant leap into the air, holding its right hand at its side, balled into a fist, which started to crackle with energy. At the peak of the jump, the monster hovered in the air which gave it time to unleash it's attack on Natasha. He shot his fist out and lightning rained off its hand, striking down all around Natasha who had taken up a defensive stance, trying to use her Duel Disk as a shield. One bolt connected directly with her Duel Disk and she heard her Life Counter drop sharply to 1900.

XAVIER: 3000

NATASHA: 1900  
JAMIE: 4000

"Damnit…" Natasha muttered, frustrated at her own performance and the fact that her own former student was practically taking her to school with a very familiar deck. And it kept bothering her to the point it was distracting her.

"All you can do is take on Natasha and not me?" Jamie shouted, upset that this duel was turning into a one sided affair.

Xavier, however, looked straight at Jamie. "You're the ones that aren't living up to expectations. You beat me once before, Jamie. And this is all that you're capable of? This duel has been too easy so far."

At this moment, Jamie agreed with Xavier while staring at his deck. "You're right, it has been too easy. So I have to up my game a little more."

"If you've been holding back…" Xavier warned.

Jamie smirked. "Not that I have been holding back, but just being patient. If all you want to do is try to beat on Natasha-"

"Don't try to defend me." Natasha cut in.

"Then I'll just give you something you can't help but worry about." Jamie finished off his sentence despite Natasha's interruption. "My turn! Draw! Set Card, Open.

Magician's Illusion #2!"

"Another Magician's Illusion card?" Xavier hammered out. He looked at the card, another Normal Spell Card that had a magician wearing a white mask standing in front of a table performing the classic vanishing scarves trick. Natasha turned and looked at her partner, noticing that these Illusion cards seemed to be some kind of set that Jamie had to work with his Spellcasters.

"And just so you know, Xavier, because I used a Spell Card, that adds one counter to my Blast Magician. (1400/1700)" Jamie said as an orb glowing with a small fire within it appeared over the head of Jamie's monster, still crouched in defense position.

Jamie removed his deck from his Duel Disk as he explained the effect of his Spell Card. "Magician's Illusion #2 is a card all about the choice you'll make Xavier. This Spell Card allows me to select one Spell Card and one Spellcaster-Type monster from my deck."

Jamie picked out the two cards he wanted and set them aside. A quick reshuffle of his deck and he replaced it back into his Duel Disk. He then picked up the two cards and held them up so Xavier could see them, his Dark Magician (2500/2100) and Magician's Illusion #1, the third of these Magician's Illusion cards so far. He then turned them so Xavier could no longer see the faces of them, shuffled them, and held one card in each of his hands, the backs facing Xavier.

"Xavier, you must pick one of these two cards from my hand. If you pick the Monster Card, my Black Magician will be Special Summoned to the field in defense mode immediately, and my Spell Card will be sent to the graveyard. However, if you choose the Spell Card, both cards will be sent to the graveyard and I will take 2000 points of damage to my Life Points."

Natasha glared at Jamie. _That's a big risk to take for the chance to get his Dark Magician into play. I guess for him, the reward is well worth this risk._

Xavier was in thought as well. _If he brings out his Dark Magician, I might have a big problem on my hands. Though I never played against Jamie with his Dark Magician, I played against this deck before and saw just what he was truly capable of on TV when he dueled Terry Hairston in the Battle City quarterfinals. I cannot let him bring that monster to the field...But there's another of those Magician's Illusion cards, like they're more important to his deck than I might wanna believe._

"I'll pick the card in your….left hand. " Xavier said after a moment of hesitation.

Jamie, who had locked eyes with Xavier this whole time, let his gaze drift to his left hand and he let a small frown creep onto his face. He turned his card to Xavier's eyes, his Magician's Illusion #1 Spell Card.

Xavier, relieved in his mind but composed otherwise, pointed at Jamie with his hand of cards. "Due to the effect of your own card, Jamie, you take 2000 points of damage to your Life Points."

XAVIER: 3000

NATASHA: 1900  
JAMIE: 2000

A red glow surrounded Jamie's body as he rather casually put both of his cards into his graveyard. To Xavier, he looked just too 'un-upset' to have his Life Points cut in half. And there was a good reason that he wasn't upset. "Thanks, Xavier. You played right into my hands, my boy."

"What?" came the response from Natasha.

"How did I do that? Your Dark Magician hasn't-"

"_Black_ Magician. Get it right." Jamie interrupted.

"Your magician hasn't been summoned to the field." Xavier finished. But just then, he saw Jamie waggle a card in his hand.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I would've preferred you to pick my magician right then and there. But that play was completely foolproof. You forget that magicians are trained to be accomplished deceivers. What you believe to be true…might not be true at all. From my hand, I'll play the Spell Card, Monster Reborn." Jamie said, slamming the card into his Duel Disk and watching it appear on the field. Also, another fiery orb appeared over the top of Blast Magician, raising the number of counters to three. "Appear, Black Magician! (2500/2100)"

A black pit opened up in front of Jamie's Spell Card and a small bit of rumbling could be heard emanating from it. A violet light started to flood the empty blackness of it until a column of similarly colored light shot from the fissure. A brief flash of a black object rose through it and rose up and away from Xavier's line of sight in the clouds of The Sanctuary in the Sky. It didn't take but another small moment for the monster to descend into plain sight, his arm crossed with a lime green scepter in his hand and staring coolly at Xavier and his Elemental Hero Sparkman. (1600/1400)

"You planned that all out didn't you, Jamie?" Xavier alleged. "You were going to bring out Black Magician (2500/2100) in this turn, no matter what I did."

Jamie gave a short, mocking bow to Xavier. "Deception and illusion. Deception and illusion."

"Certainly had me fooled…" Jamie heard from across his shoulder from Natasha. He looked over at his tag partner and just shrugged. She smiled, then turned her attention back to Xavier.

"Black Magician! (2500/2100) Attack Elemental Hero Sparkman! (1600/1400)"

"I don't think so!" Xavier shouted. "Counter Trap Card, Open! Negate Attack!"

Jamie's monster, without hesitation, fired a stream of purple and black energy from the orb nestled in the top of it's scepter, flying right toward Elemental Hero Sparkman and the Trap Card that was directly in the path of the attack. Xavier's Trap Card would negate the attack of Black Magician and end the battle phase immediately.

But Jamie giggled.

"What's so funny?" demanded Xaiver.

"I wasn't lying when I said that that play was completely foolproof, Xavier. The play's not over yet. I've been made ready for your Counter Trap Card thanks to…well, you!"

"What the devil?"

Jamie lifted his Duel Disk so everyone could see it. "From my graveyard, I'll activate the effect of my Magician's Illusion #1!"

Xavier was confused. _Magician's Illusion #1? That's the card that he discarded due to his Magician's Illusion #2. The card that I made him take 2000 points of damage from. And this card has an effect that can be activated in the graveyard?_

"Like I said, I'll activate my card's effect from the graveyard and I can only use it against an opponent's Trap Card. This card's effect lets me negate that Trap Card and destroy it, ignoring Spell Speed requirements."

Jamie finished his statement and raised his Duel Disk so it was level with his chest. A soft, green light started to fill the graveyard slot and then shot out like a bullet from his Duel Disk right for Xavier's Trap Card and shattered it instantly. The shards splashed back and passed over Xavier who shielded himself from them. He didn't have time to even lower his arms as his monster, Sparkman, caught the attack that was originally meant for him from Jamie's Black Magician and destroyed him.

XAVIER: 2100

NATASHA: 1900  
JAMIE: 2000

Xavier heard his Life Counter ticking down and saw that he was now at 2100 Life Points.

"And now, the other effect of Magician's Illusion #1." Jamie stated.

"Other effect?" Xavier asked.

"That's right. When my Spell Card uses its effect to negate one of your Counter Trap Cards, another effect is activated. For every card in the chain besides my own, I can inflict 200 points of damage to my opponent. The only other card in that chain besides mine was your Negate Attack card, so you take an additional 200 points of damage."

XAVIER: 1900

NATASHA: 1900  
JAMIE: 2000

200 more points were subtracted from the counter on Xavier's Duel Disk and he grimaced, noticing he was tied with Natasha and just below Jamie. He needed every point he could manage to be able to defeat two opponents at the same time. But this damage he took would work to his advantage. He smirked at Jamie. "At the moment my monster is destroyed, Jamie, I'll use this Trap Card. Hero Signal!"

"Hero Signal…" Natasha said aloud.

"Tch…" Jamie grunted. "Hero Signal lets him Special Summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero monster from his deck or hand when a monster on his field is destroyed."

"Right…" Xavier said, acknowledging Jamie's explanation while he had his deck removed from his Duel Disk and was busy searching. He found the card he was looking for, shuffled his deck and replaced it in its holder.

"From Hero Signal's effect, I'll Special Summon Elemental Hero Stratos! (1800/300)"

Xavier slapped the card onto his Duel Disk and wind started to kick up around him, whipping his short blonde hair around furiously. Xavier looked up into the sky and watched a man clad in silver and sky blue armor descend from the heavens to hover right in front of him. A pair of twin fans hung off his back, allowing him to hover, and he awaited his next command.

"And at the moment Stratos is Special Summoned, I'll use one of its two effects. When Stratos is Normal or Special Summoned to the field, I can add 1 Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand. The monster that I choose is…"

A single card started to slip from the main bit of Xavier's deck and he snatched it up, showing it to Natasha and Jamie."Elemental Hero Ocean." Xavier finished.

Jamie groaned softly. _I beat down one Elemental Hero for it to be replaced by another two. I don't know all the Elemental Hero's fusions but I don't think there's one that fuses with either Stratos or Ocean._ He glanced up at his Black Magician. _But I know there aren't many of them, fused or regular monsters that are stronger than my Black Magician. For the time being, he's backpedaling to catch up with Natasha and I. Gotta keep the pressure on him because the little brat isn't that bad._

"I'll set one reverse card. End turn." Jamie called out, signaling the start of Xavier's turn.

"My turn. Draw." Xavier slowly added another card to his hand. He looked over the field. Jamie had his "Black" Magician (2500/2100) out in attack mode and his Blast Magician (1400/1700) in defense mode with one reverse card. Natasha had her The Sanctuary in the Sky Field Spell Card still in play as well as 2 reverse cards. He had his Elemental Hero Stratos out in attack mode with no reverse cards. But while Jamie was starting to pose a serious problem, Natasha had been quite reserved and quiet in this duel. The only monster she had played was her Royal Knight some time ago. Since then, she hasn't set a monster out to defend her Life Points and he's had many opportunities to attack her directly. No matter how suspicious that might look, he had to keep pressing her if she kept sending him openings. He looked over his hand, Elemental Hero Ocean, Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Ring of Destruction, Misfortune and his new Pot of Greed. With his Life Points so low, Ring of Destruction wasn't a viable plan now.

"I'll play Pot of Greed." Xavier said, drawing two more cards, which he grinned at slightly. He took another card from his hand and slipped it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I'll set one reverse card…then play the Quick-Play Spell Card, Emergency Provisions!"

"Great…" Natasha muttured under her breath.

"Emergency Provisions lets me destroy one Spell or Trap Card on my side of the field to increase my Life Points by 1000 points. So I now gain 1000 Life Points." The card that he just set shattered along with his Emergency Provisions card. The pieces, instead of disappearing like usual, turned into small, light blue grains of light that cascaded down on Xavier like rain.

XAVIER: 2900

NATASHA: 1900  
JAMIE: 2000

"Don't forget, that's another two Spell Counters that I can add to my Blast Magician, Xavier!" Jamie said.

"It's not going to matter. Blast Magician won't see the end of this turn, Jamie. I'll now set one more reverse card. Then I'll summon Elemental Hero Ocean (1500/1200) in attack mode!"

A patch of clouds in the sky started to darken and immediately and without warning started to pour rain onto a small side of Xavier's field. Through the rain, they watched another blue clad monster come onto the field. It held a golden trident in its hands and was a fairly slim monster. "Elemental Hero Ocean has a very nice effect, but it won't kick in until my next turn."

Jamie narrowed his eyes, wondering what that effect might be. He hadn't seen this Elemental Hero before and something didn't sit well with him about how confident Xavier was with it being out on the field.

"Elemental Hero Stratos, (1800/300) attack Jamie's Blast Magician! (1400/1700)"

The two fans on Stratos' back slightly turn and angled themselves to face toward his front. He pulled his hands to his sides, clenched in fists, and the fans started to hum louder and louder, but not discharging any kind of air. But all of a sudden, there was a low howling sound that started out low but grew louder instantaneously. It was then that the fans burst with a set of spiraling tornados that raced across the sky and pierced Blast Magician straight through its chest, destroying it and scattering the orbs that had surrounded it.

Jamie made a sound of displeasure at the move, knowing that he couldn't use his Blast Magician's effect until his own turn.

"Now, Elemental Hero Ocean (1500/1200) attack Natasha directly!"

In a move that defied all kinds of logic, the Elemental Hero grasped its trident in one hand, raised it to the sky, let the sun gleam off of it for a moment, then it brought it down in a swift cut. The resulting cut actually produced a sickle of water that screamed toward Natasha's position. She turned to her side, using her Duel Disk again as a shield and let the water slash explode against her Duel Disk, scattering droplets of water all around the field like a light, misty rain.

XAVIER: 2900

NATASHA: 400  
JAMIE: 2000

Jamie, who was all for Natasha to fight her own battle in his duel, had seen enough. "Natasha, what the hell are you doing?!" he exploded at his teammate, demanding an explanation as to why she wasn't doing anything useful or helpful.

Natasha, still in a guard stance that left her back facing Jamie, straightened up and stood up square with her back to her partner. "Right now…I'm making my move." she said over her shoulder. She stepped so she was facing Xavier again and Jamie could see her eyes narrowed, fixed on Xavier. She had fire in her eyes like Jamie hadn't seen before.

"You haven't made a move this whole duel, Natasha-san." Xavier pointed out, still recalling his feeling that she was up to something.

"I"ve been watching and seeing what you're capable of." Natasha replied stoically.

"What I'm capable of?" Xavier questioned.

"Right. What you can actually do with these Elemental Heros, how you control them, how you've mixed the Spells and Trap Cards within that deck. Because I know one thing about that deck. You know it too, Xavier."

Xavier said nothing, but his lips started to twist into a snarl.

"That deck you made…you tried to copy my own…didn't you, Xavier?"

"Copy?" Jamie asked. "What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

"She's talking…" Xavier began. "about the deck that she 'retired' some time ago. The deck that she used to earn her way to the National Championships."

"Exactly right, Xavier. I based that deck around my favorite monster. Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman. And up to this point, you haven't shown me a deck that doesn't look much different from mine."

Xavier didn't reply to that. Natasha jumped on that.

"You little cheat." she snarled between clenched teeth. "After all that talk about me holding you back, not developing your talent, you go and commit plagiarism on a duelist's-"

"No! This deck is all mine, Natasha!"

"Don't lie! It's a blatant copy!"

Xavier let out a slow, focused breath, seemingly to not allow his anger to boil over against Natasha. He stared her right in her eyes, and she met the stare. "You don't know anything about this deck. I saw what you did with the Elemental Heros, Natasha-san…" He raised his Duel Disk so that it was level with his chest and looked down at his deck as he continued.

"And with this deck, and my soul, I'm going to completely destroy and surpass that!"

Natasha let out a haughty laugh and lowered her head. "Oh, I don't plan to be beaten by a carbon copy of my Shining Flare Wingman deck. Let's let this be the last lesson I give you, Xavier. Your deck can be a reflection of who you are at heart. Can you honestly say the same about that deck you wield?"

Xavier, who hadn't looked up from his deck, replied, "Yes."

Natasha turned her head away in visible disgust with him. "You're pathetic. A copied deck doesn't mean you can make the same kind of magic that someone else had with it."

Now it was Xavier's turn to laugh insultingly. "Are you absolutely sure…that this deck is a copy of yours? Or maybe just cultivated from good stock into something different?"

Natasha let her response be to draw her next card. She looked at it, and while looking at it, announced, "I'm not going to pussyfoot around anymore. Set Card, Open! Sparks in the Dark!"

A Trap Card flipped up on Natasha's field, showing a really simple card image of a large and bright star among several others in a cloudless night sky.

"Sparks in the Dark destroys all Field Spell Cards on the field." Natasha said.

"What?" Jamie blurted out, watching as The Sanctuary in the Sky started to waver and the image slowly faded away, replacing the three in the parking lot they had began this duel.

"But if I control the Field Spell Card that was destroyed, I can draw 1 card and…"

Natasha let that sentence hang in the air as she took a pretty long look at her newly drawn card until replacing it solemnly into her hand and continued her explanation.

"For each Light-Type monster in my graveyard, I can gain 100 Life Points. There are 3 Light-Type monsters in my graveyard. Radiant Jeral, Royal Knight, and Zeridias Herald of Heaven. So my Life Points increase to 700."

XAVIER: 2900

NATASHA: 700  
JAMIE: 2000

"What does that accomplish?" Xavier asked.

"Xavier, I'm going to show you what originally can bring you. Set Card, Open! Pyramid of Light!"

"Pyramid of-" Xavier started, but didn't get a chance to finish. A brilliant flash of light erupted from Natasha's Trap Card and filled everyone's eyes with blinding yellow light. It lasted for a few more moments and through his eyelids, Xavier could feel the light diminishing and he dared to open his eyes cautiously, squinting in the still bright light. He could make out the image of Natasha standing in front of a square based, transparent pyramid seeming just made up of yellow light. It continued to dim slowly until he could stand to finally open his eyes fully. Natasha stood in front of him with her arms to her sides, both clenched into fists.

"You're no idiot, Xavier. Nor you, Jamie. You know full well this card's use."

Neither of them spoke. Natasha picked one card out of her hand and raised it to the sky. The light of the Pyramid of Light started to pour off the structure in small threads. They started to wrap themselves around Natasha's arm and her card, resonating with them. Her pony tailed hair started to whip around her head but then started to just fly straight up, stretching past nearly her arm.

"Using the Pyramid of Light, I'll Special Summon from my hand Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000) in attack mode!" From the top of the pyramid, a small orb started to form and grow larger. It took only a moment, but it shot a beam through the web of strands of light right at the back of Natasha's card, making it glow in the same light. Then the beam passed through the card onto the ground, casting a image of a transparent beast with a female human head, like a wire frame model of her monster. The radiance of the monster started to increase and the image became more and more solid and it started to add colors onto itself. It gave itself a dark grey and shiny coat of fur on his forepaws and forelegs. A tail that wasn't visible at first started to sway back and forth in the same color. The face of the woman was beautiful, with blue eyes and flowing scarlet hair.

"No…" was the only thing that Xavier said.

_Sphinx Teleia?!_ Jamie wildly thought to himself.

"To Special Summon Sphinx Teleia in this way, it costs me 500 Life Points." Natasha said in a toneless voice.

XAVIER: 2900

NATASHA: 200  
JAMIE: 2000

"Also, in the same turn that she is summoned, no matter the method, it cannot attack. But if this card destroys a defense position monster, it will inflict damage to my opponent's Life Points equal to half of the destroyed monsters total defense points." Natasha took another 2 cards from her hand and let Xavier look at them long and hard. "But even with that stipulation, Xavier, I guarantee when my next turn comes, I'll show you just what you're actually made of. I'll set two reverse cards and end my turn."


	4. Jamie and Natasha vs Xavier Part III

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

Xavier silently drew his next card, thinking to himself. _Sphinx Teleia can trample my monsters but only inflict damage to them equal to half of their defense points. Stratos' defense points are 300 and Ocean's are 1300, neither would be a significant loss in Life Points to me if she destroyed one of them. But now there are two 2500 ATK monsters on the field for me to deal with. That's the real problem. Jamie with his Black Magician out and now Natasha with Sphinx Teleia out. _

"In my Standby Phase, Elemental Hero Ocean's effect comes into play."

"What? In the Standby Phase?" Jamie said. _Is this the effect he was talking about?_

"That's right. In my Standby Phase, Elemental Hero Ocean's effect allows me to either return one Elemental Hero from my field to my hand or one Elemental Hero from my graveyard to my hand. For this turn, I choose to return Elemental Hero Sparkman from my graveyard to my hand." Xavier watched his graveyard eject his selected Elemental Hero and placed the card into his hand. Moving his hand toward the trigger for one of his reverse cards, he glared at Natasha.

"Now, I'm going to end this duel right now for you…Natasha-san."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. _Neither of those two E-Hero monsters, Ocean and Stratos can fuse together... How does he plan to attack?_

"Reverse Card, Open! Ring of Destruction!"

Xavier's Trap Card turned up and its face glowed white for a quick moment before a ring made up of hand grenades shot out of the card and made a beeline for the neck of Sphinx Teleia.

"Ring of Destruction destroys one monster on the field and delivers damage to both duelists equal to the destroyed monsters attack points. You only have 200 points left Natasha-san, this is the end for you!"

Natasha quickly swept her hand toward one of her reverse cards, smirking at Xavier. "You're naïve. Set Card, Open! Interdimensional Matter Transporter!"

Natasha's Trap Card flipped up and after a brief flash of light coming from the card, a silver, oddly shaped, alien looking piece of machinery appeared behind her monster, Sphinx Teleia. The machine hummed to life, a red light on the top of the machine starting to glow. Just as Xavier's trap was about to ensnare Sphinx Teleia, the monster was shot from behind by a multicolored beam from Natasha's Trap Card, making the monster disappear.

"What happened?" Xavier demanded as his Ring of Destruction just hovered in the air above Natasha's field space.

"That's the effect of my Trap Card. Interdimensional Matter Transporter can remove one monster on my side of the field from play until the End Phase of this turn. So without a monster on my side of the field, you'll just have to pick someone else for your Trap Card to target."

Xavier gritted his teeth, then turned his head toward Jamie's field and his Black Magician.

"Your monster will serve just as well, Jamie. Ring of Destuction!"

Natasha smirked as the bomb zipped toward Jamie's field, knowing that he was more than prepared for something like that. And just as she thought, a Trap Card flipped up on his side of the field as well.

"Counter Trap Card! Trap of Board Eraser!"

Xavier's trap wrapped itself around the waist of Jamie's Black Magician and without hesitation, the device detonated, kicking a good size cloud of dust into the air, blocking Xavier's view of Jamie and his field.

"Let me just guess. That card just saved you, right?" Xavier asked of Jamie through the smoke. The dust cleared leaving Jamie alone with no monster on his field but a Life Point counter that appeared next to him showed that he was still alive and in the game.

"Very good. Trap of Board Eraser, unfortunately, can't save my Black Magician from destruction…but it does negate the damage done to me so long as its effect damage and not battle damage. Also, you must discard one card from you hand. Heh, consider it a small cost for destroying my favorite monster."

Xavier snatched up his Elemental Hero Bubbleman from his hand, showed it to his opponents and slipped it into his graveyard. "Small cost to pay to rid me of a threat."

"Tell yourself that when it's over and you've lost. You'll look back on this and just wish you could've finished me." Jamie came back.

"Feh. I'll end my turn."

_Damnit!_ Jamie cursed, mad at himself for just letting Xavier have that kind of pleasure to destroy his favorite monster. His exterior hid well the frustration he felt. "My turn. Draw." Jamie said, as he looked at his card, he called to Natasha.

"What?"

"Don't ever say I never did anything to help you."

"You talk like you're going somewhere." she said in a neutral sounding voice, not showing that she cared or not.

"Nah, just putting that out in the air. I'll set one reverse card then play this Spell Card. Party Favors!" A Spell Card appeared on Jamie's field with a picture of two duelists playing in a duel with a party happening in the background with streamers and confetti in the air. It had the atmosphere of a fun little get together between friends.

"Party Favors?" Natasha asked.

"Yep. It allows me to choose one player to draw one card. So go ahead, Natasha." Natasha smiled, allowing the scowl and stern expression she'd been showing for the whole duel to slip for a moment, drawing a card from her deck.

"Now one more thing about that drawn card." Jamie said for both Natasha and Xavier. "If it's a Monster Card, it's discarded to the graveyard. But if it's a Spell Card or a Trap Card, it is immediately set."

Natasha glanced down at her card. She looked at Jamie. She looked at Xavier. Once more, she looked at her drawn card and slipped it into her Spell/Trap Card Zone.

_I'll have to thank Jamie for that._

"Now then, it's time for a little magic." Jamie smirked.

_Great, another of his Magician's Illusion cards?_ Xavier wondered.

"Reverse Card, Open. The Transmigration Prophecy!"

Two cards ejected from Jamie's graveyard and he picked them up and removed his deck from the holder as he began to speak. "This Trap Card lets me add up to two cards from my graveyard and shuffle them back into my deck. The cards I choose are my Black Magician (2500/2100) and Monster Reborn."

"You'll never get to that Dark Magici-"

"_Black_ Magician…" Jamie said, not taking his eyes off shuffling his deck.

"Whatever. You'll never get to it again in time. Hey! Why didn't you shuffle that card back into your deck?!"

This caused Natasha to even look more closely at Jamie. Indeed, he had a card in his hand that he was keeping separate from his deck as he shuffled.

"Well, there's no point in shuffling my Black Magician back into my deck." Jamie offered as a explanation.

"No point? That's what your Trap Card does!" Xavier exploded at him.

"Yeah, but you obviously didn't know what _this_ Spell Card does." Jamie said calmly, looking over to his side.

"What?" Xavier said, looking to Jamie's far right and just then noticing a face up Spell Card on Jamie's field. "Dark Magic Curtain?"

"Oh yeah. Dark Magic Curtain allows me to Special Summon one Black Magician from my deck. At the cost of half of my Life Points."

XAVIER: 2900

NATASHA: 200  
JAMIE: 1000

Jamie slapped his card back onto his Duel Disk and watched his monster jump onto the field from a hole that had opened up on his side of the field. Jamie's monster just looked at Xavier and waved his finger in a "no, no, no" motion, making a "tch" sound.

"I could just blow your Elemental Heroes away now…" Jamie warned, watching for Xavier's response, which was to tighten the grip on his single card he was holding. Instead, Jamie took a set of cards from his hand and set it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I'll set three reverse cards and end my turn."

"What?!" came the simultaneous response from Natasha, Terry and Xavier.

Natasha was completely livid though. "Openings like that don't ever come again and you pass on it? You've done nothing but make no sense with your duel this entire time, Jamie. If you're trying to swing this game into-"

"Before people get crazy…" Jamie interrupted loudly, looking down at his Duel Disk and watching a card eject from his graveyard. He picked it up and turned it to Natasha. "You do remember when I activated the effect of my Magician's Illusion #1, right?"

Natasha replied that she did, remembering when he used its effect from the graveyard to negate a Trap Card of Xavier's.

"The other effect of this card is that when I use that effect, I must skip the Battle Phase of my next turn."

Xavier heard this and fell into a pit of uncontrollable laughter. "You just gave up your best shot to reduce my Life Points, and for what? You gained nothing from that maneuver."

"That maneuver allowed me and Natasha to have two monsters that easily dwarf your own in attack and defense points."

Xavier looked down at his deck, staring at the top card on it. "Then I'll just have to change the game with the next card that I draw, won't i?"

Everyone was silent as Xavier slowly pulled that card from his deck, the rustling of cardboard against cardboard the only thing filling everyone's ears. Xavier held the card out to his side and turn his head to look at it. Jamie saw his eyes widen slightly when he looked at his drawn card, and he started to wonder just what he had drawn.

"In my Standby Phase, I'll invoke the effect of Elemental Hero Ocean again. I will return Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) to my hand."

Natasha did some counting in her head. _So right now, Xavier has Avian, Sparkman and a unknown card in his hand right now. If that card turned out to be something like Polymerization, there is not one combination that makes up a fusion monster between the Avian (1000/1000) and Sparkman (1600/1400) in his hand and the Stratos (1800/300) and Ocean (1500/1300) on the field. _

"I'll play this Spell Card, Coins from Heaven."

The card required no explaining, so Xavier, Jamie and Natasha both drew until they all had six cards in their respective hands. But it worried Jamie and Natasha more that Xavier had more cards to use. Elemental Heroes had more fusions using some of the same monsters than anything in the game. A full hand of cards could pose problems.

"Natasha-san, it's time I showed you just why this deck you're dueling against is so much more different and my own than you realize." Xavier said, looking at her, but carrying a stone faced expression. No smirk, no laugh, no scowl, just a cold glare. It unnerved Natasha a bit and she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Xavier took a card from his hand. "I'll set one reverse card."

Xavier, then, took the remaining cards he had on hand and turned them so both Jamie and Natasha could see them. Jamie was so shocked that he was about to call him foolish, and indeed as he was about to voice his opinion, he saw what cards Xavier actually had in his hand. Natasha saw them as well, and she felt her heart skip a beat and her entire body tingled. Not from fear but more from anxiety and anticipation. She could feel in her duelist's soul that Xavier hadn't pulled his strongest out yet. And she knew it was coming right now.

The five cards in Xavier's hand were Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000), Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800), Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) and two Polymerization cards.

All the components necessary to form Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman

"Descend from the heavens!" Xavier called out, tossing his five cards into the air and watching them start to each glow in a soft yellow light not too dissimilar from Natasha's Pyramid of Light. The cards started to spin, starting to rotate faster and faster until they formed a halo of sorts. Natasha and Jamie were compelled to look and stare at it, mesmerized by the sight. In a unusual fashion, the halo started to emit light toward the ground and it focused on one point, making the halo into a large cone. Just like an artist's pencil and pen, the point that was stationary on the ground started to carve a leg out of the air. Anywhere that it traveled left a white outline against the air and it continued in this way very quickly, and it became apparent that something was off.

"What IS that?" Natasha questioned aloud.

The figure that was being drawn wasn't Shining Flare Wingman. Instead of heavily armored feet and legs, like Shining Flare Wingman, this monster had much more streamlined and body-fitting armor over it's lower portion. The trend continued into the torso. Instead of a heavy chestplate of silver armor, this monster seemed to go without any armor over it's chest. The only true similarity was within the wings, but there were subtle differences there too. This monster's wings were being drawn with a mechanical look to them, not unlike Shining Flare Wingman, but they were slimmer, wiry and slender, whereas Natasha's monster had wings that fanned more and remind you of weapons than wings. Finally, the head gear was very different. Wingman had a helmet that drew inspiration from Elemental Hero Sparkman; smooth and without apparent openings for eyes and a mouth. This monster had head gear that drew inspiration from Elemental Hero Avian; a three-pronged helmet that came just over the eyes and left the mouth exposed.

As this halo-turned-cone had continued to draw the monster, it became slimmer and slimmer. It finished right at the top of the monster's helmet with just a sliver of the original mass remaining. That bit that was left glowed and suddenly shattered into yellow bits of light that cascaded down over Xavier's monster, giving it color. It was primarily green with the armored portions of it dressed in silver.

"Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer! (2500/2100)"

"Shining Phoenix Enforcer…" Natasha repeated to herself.

Xavier gave his former teacher a long and hard look, demanding to know if she still thought him a copycat. Natasha didn't answer. Xavier looked down at his deck as he spoke again. "This deck is my own, Natasha. Drawing an inspiration from something that you used is far from plagiarism or copying someone. This deck and I are going to surpass everything that you accomplished. Everything that both of you accomplished!"

"Is that right?" Jamie sneered, thoroughly unimpressed. "Drew inspiration, my butt, Xavier. If a deck is your own and you created, you wouldn't be here trying so hard to pass it off to us as one! You copied that deck with everything that you knew about her deck and just used a different ace card!"

Xavier was trembling, barely containing an urge to lash out against Jamie for such a false accusation.

"I know a copycat when I see one, a pure-blooded cookie-cutter deck."

"Jamie…" Xavier said in a grave and menacing tone toward Jamie. "You call me cookie-cutter…when you copy a damn anime characters deck?!"

Jamie's eyes opened wide, but like Natasha, he had no answer worth giving.

Xavier shook his head violently, and turned toward his monster. "Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer has two effects. One of them…"

Xavier raised his arm and showed his Duel Disk ejecting several cards from his graveyard. He scooped them up and showed them off to Natasha and Jamie, a set of his Elemental Heroes.

"For each card in my graveyard with 'Elemental Hero' in it's name, I can add 300 points to my monster's attack points. In my graveyard, I have Elemental Heroes Avian, Sparkman, Burstinatrix, Mariner and Bubbleman. 1500 more attack points that I can add to Shining Phoenix Enforcer."

Xavier's monster, which was hovering slightly above the ground, started to glow with a soft, green aura around it. A small Attack Counter appeared next to it, showing its stats changed to (4000/2100).

"Make the real copycat disappear…" Xavier said just above a whisper. Shining Phoenix Enforcer's response was to glare right at Jamie's Black Magician and its eyes glowed crimson. The monster's right arm, which was armored with a steel gauntlet but had a set of claws on it, started to glow red. As if the metal was becoming superheated. But the red continued to deepen and darken until it matched Shining Phoenix Enforcer's eyes, crimson reminiscent of a late evening sunset. Then from the rear of the gauntlet, toward the elbow, fire erupted and wrapped itself around the red hot armament like a snake. It continued to curl and curl until the front was still exposed but uncovered with fire. Out of nowhere, a pair of onyx black eyes, a stark contrast against the red and orange of the fire, appeared and a beak shaped in fire burned itself into place.

Shining Phoenix Enforcer raised that arm and pointed it at Black Magician. The phoenix that was wrapped around the monster's arm opened its beak and let out a shrill squeak that rattled everyone's bones, then took off like a shot. As it flew away, the phoenix developed a pair of wings as well and the part that was wrapped around the monster's arm was its tail that continued to unravel as it flew. Instead of attacking the monster directly, it instead flew past Black Magician and started to fly in circles around it. This allowed the phoenix's tail to form a cylinder of sorts that ensnared Black Magician, who continued to stand with it's arms crossed and a blank stare on its face oblivious to the firebird.

"That's it! Burn him right down to his very soul!" yelled Xavier, eyes wide as his monster gracefully danced as it set up its attack.

"Reverse Card, Open!"

That was the last thing that anyone heard, because in the next second…hell surrounded them all. The tail that had surrounded Black Magician exploded out instead of inward toward the phoenix's target as it was intended. This blew the full force of the attack out on Natasha and Jamie, who in that one moment lost their senses of reality because the fire overtook their eyes so suddenly. Vision overtook everything and their bodies started to sweat and vertigo set in again; no up, no down, no left or right, nothing but fire. Hell flame.

It lasted only for a moment. It dissipated very quickly and it found Jamie dropped to one knee, Natasha with her arms crossed over her face but her eyes were wide as saucers, and even Terry was standing prone with a shocked look frozen over his face. And through it all Xavier had adopted Black Magician's trademark stance of crossing his arms. Because he saw that the attack had failed and that his monster was still there, the phoenix returned to his monster's arm, but Black Magician standing on Jamie's field with a burning red energy surrounding it, burning itself like a wild candle.

"Rising Energy, huh?" Xavier said for Jamie, who hadn't spoken yet. "A Trap Card that allows you to increase the attack points of a monster by 1500 at the cost of 1 card from your hand. Not bad, Jamie…"

Jamie tried to shake it off, but the image would retreat to the back of his mind only to return the moment he began to get a shiver. He was, easily enough, able to return to his feet but he was visibly shaken.

"T-that's right." he said, stuttering slightly in his speech.

Xavier look across the field at Natasha. She was standing but she had clasped her left arm with her right hand and she too had a fit of shivers, more noticeable with her loose clothing that fluttered slightly. She seemed to get over it and she got back into a stance.

"I'll turn Stratos and Ocean to attack mode." Xavier announced, eyeing Sphinx Teleia warily. "Then I'll set one reverse card to end my turn."

_If she takes the bait, I'll be able to finish this duel in one shot!_ Xavier thought to himself.

Natasha eyed Xavier's monsters and his reverse card warily herself. _He's seducing me into attacking. It's blatantly obvious._

Jamie was thinking along the same lines, but he had no reverse cards on his field that could help the situation more. Black Magician (2500/2100) was the only thing keeping him in the game but he had no way to back Natasha up.

_If I attacked one of those smaller monsters instead of Shining Phoenix Enforcer, I could take a large chunk out of his Life Points and make this duel swing to our favor. But why is he set on making that a reality? Why would he want me to take his Life Points out...Regardless, I cannot pass another opportunity. I don't have that luxury with Shining Phoenix Enforcer out._

"My turn! Draw!" Natasha flipped her drawn card away from her deck and without even looking at it, pointed to her reverse card. "I'll activate Meteorain!"

Xavier did a double take at Natasha as she explained the Trap Card's effect, "When I activate this card, for this turn only, when I attack my opponent's defense position monsters with an attack power greater than their defense, the difference is inflicted to my opponent's Life Points."

Xavier was beside himself at the moronic move by Natasha. He placed a hand on his hip saying, "What good does a one-turn trample card do you when I have no defense position monsters on my field, Natasha-san? More proof Clan Prime was a waste of my time, huh?"

Natasha didn't answer his question directly, but her eyes had narrowed to slits and her breathing was slowing. "Reverse Card, Open! Book of Moon!"

A Quick-Play Spell Card flipped up on Natasha's field, her last set card. As soon as it was standing straight up, a pale white beam fired from it and struck the chest of Elemental Hero – Ocean. The monster immediately folded one arm across its chest, knelt to one knee and planted the end of its trident into the ground. It seemed like the monster was bowing before Natasha instead of getting ready to defend.

"Tch…" Xavier exhaled, himself getting ready to defend. But then he happened to glance at Natasha instead of Sphinx Teleia and felt a chill in his heart. An old memory flashed by him in an instant.

He remembered a time when he was still a member of Clan Prime. The thing about clans and duelists is that they naturally wanted to duel, beat and best each other. In a clan duel, three members of Clan Prime were dueling against another inner city clan, one called D-Light. It was Natasha, Janet and himself going against three of the better duelists in D-Light. It was unusual because clan leaders, like Natasha was, don't duel. No rule said you couldn't but it wasn't done. Clan leader loses and it can make for an embarrassment.

Janet had won her duel as had Xavier. They were watching Natasha. And the duelist that she was dueling against had a smart mouth. Throughout the duel, he wouldn't stop. And he made the mistake of throwing a comment at her whole clan.

Natasha looked on with shock at first that he dared to say something. But she said nothing, hung her head, and was quiet. When she raised her head again, her eyes had narrowed and her lips tightened. The natural blue in her eyes seemed to just shine more, like she was haunted. Janet had seen it too and after that, Natasha proceeded to slaughter her opponent, brutally. When it was over, Janet and Xavier admitted to each other what they had seen. A different side of her that was very dangerous.

Those eyes that had scared him then were staring into his own right now.

"Sphinx Teleia… (2500/3000) kill Elemental Hero – Ocean! (1500/1200)"

The half woman, half beast had been waiting patiently for this opportunity and she had a sparkle in her eye as Natasha selected her victim. She turned her head toward Xavier's monster, long red hair dangling in her eyesight. It gave her a seductive look for a beast. But then she slightly lowered her head, covering her features and blasted a tremendously explosive roar at the water monster. Shockwaves emitted from it's mouth and made the ground tremble slightly, but that was only it's battle cry. Everyone saw that her pretty face had taken a gruesome turn. Straight, even teeth were replaced by countless fangs that lined a mouth that couldn't close over those teeth. The eyes had turned yellow and were swirling with something, but it only looked murderous to Xavier.

It took only an instant, and the movement was barely discernable, but Teleia had run the distance between it and Elemental Hero – Ocean. Xavier saw the monster open it's jaws, exposing the fangs she possessed and sank them right into Ocean's right shoulder. The monster's satisfied growl was drowned out by a sorrowful groan from Ocean, though it didn't scream. Ocean took its free arm, the one carrying a trident and tried to strike back. Teleia saw it out of the corner of her eye and, with terrifying force, flung Ocean around in the opposite direction of the attack and sent him into the sky. And Teleia disappeared. Droplets of blood fell from the sky as the monster gained altitude, but everyone saw as Teleia appeared in the sky above Ocean and was descending on a course to intercept. She raised a clawed paw and cut three deep incisions into Ocean's chest, which drew more agony from Ocean. Both monsters were now heading back to earth, and as they came, Teleia continued to claw Xavier's monster, shredding his chest, legs arms and back. Just as they were no more than a few seconds from crashing, Teleia reared back and found enough strength to strike Ocean in its chest once more and sunk her paw right into her victim and right through him. Her paw was clearly visable going through Ocean for the last second they were airborne and dust kicked up around the crater the two of them caused.

Almost casually, Teleia strutted out of the crater and casually walked toward Natasha's field. One of its legs was noticeably dyed red and as she rested on Natasha's field, light from the Pyramid of Light cascaded down on it and she purred appreciatively, licking her red with blood paw.

Xavier was in a state of shock.

XAVIER: 800

NATASHA: 200  
JAMIE: 1000

Jamie looked over at Natasha and, like Xavier before him, felt the chill in his body from those eyes. Ice cold blue, swirling with every emotion except compassion and restraint. He knew she was defiant and defended her own with all she had but this was something that he had never seen in her before. It honestly seemed like something more suited for Terry, or even Re'-Sha, were she still around. But the way and manner that Sphinx Teleia had defeated Elemental Hero – Ocean still rattled his nerves.

Natasha herself took silent pleasure in the way Sphinx Teleia had destroyed Ocean. She was beyond forgiveness or leniency on Michael Xavier. He had always had a smart mouth, though a willingness to learn. But disrespect against her clan…

Was unforgivable.

Xavier saw the mood that had settled over Natasha and immediately regretted the moment he opened his mouth about Clan Prime and it being a waste. This kind of look that she was giving him she had only shown to another person that had disrespected Clan Prime and at the end of that duel, Natasha crushed that duelist's Duel Disk.

Natasha tilted her head upwards and glared hard at Xavier, "Consider it another lesson, Michael Xavier."

"Lesson?"

"Yes."

"The point being?"

"Simply that a copy deck like yours won't beat mine. A deck with no soul of a duelist is just 40 cards that you have no connection to." she stated, lowering her head and holding up her Duel Disk with her deck attached to it.

"This deck of mine is my creation, Natasha Chapel." he growled, not using the usual 'san' suffix to her name. From within, he found some courage to stand against the woman that was before him. "This deck is all mine and in this turn, I'm going to take you both down…through you! Reverse Card, Open!"

Natasha saw the card flip up and the second that it did, Xavier's Elemental Hero Stratos was destroyed instantly. But her own Pyramid of Light which stood behind her was starting to falter and dim. She turned to look behind her in time to see the pyramid start to dissolve into particles of light from the base to the tip. This caused her to turn back toward the field and she saw that Sphinx Teleia was already disappearing in the same fashion, with just it's head still on the field before that vanished as well. Ice blue eyes swirling, she locked eyes with her opponent and demanded to know what had happened to her cards.

"Last Turn happened, Natasha." Xavier said. "Last Turn is a trap card that I can only activate on my opponent's turn when my Life Points are less than 1000."

"Tch…" Natasha growled, realizing that this was the reason she had been seduced into attacking. She kept her gaze steadied on Xavier.

"One thing that this card does is to eliminate all cards on the field and in our hands. All cards will be sent to the graveyard except for one monster card that I select. Of course, I select Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer. (4000/2100) Now you must select one monster from your deck and Special Summon it to the field in attack position and attack my monster. The monster left on the field wins the battle and the duel."

Xavier smirked mischieviously, "But Natasha, my monster cannot be destroyed in battle!"

Natasha's eyes just swirled even harder, as if she could burn a hole holes into his eyes by staring at him. But even she realized the truth in his words. _I...i don't have a monster in my deck that can beat his..._

She removed her deck from the holder on her Duel Disk and fanned the cards, looking through them blankly as that last thought just kept repeating over and over in her head. A thought that hammered on her conscious like the blunt end of a shovel.

Jamie looked over at Natasha's field, waiting for this to round out. _Natasha looks like she's taking her time with this...does she have something that can take Shining Phoenix Enforcer out? I think so, this is Natasha Chapel that I'm talking about. And she swore she wouldn't lose this duel beforehand anyway. One of the last people that I would call a liar._

Terry looked on with interest as well. _I have to give the little prick credit. He's definitely good. To be able to take on two duelists at once and be in the game right to the end is a statement. And to do it against Jamie and Natasha is probably no small bit of luck either. Shining Phoenix Enforcer is a monster that matches perfectly with a card like Last Turn. The fact that it has 4000 attack points makes it damn near impossible to pull out a monster that can match it on a strength level. But the fact that it can't be beaten in battle is the real problem. An effect monster is the only hope, like something that destroys a monster when it's summoned or something. What will you do, Natasha?_

Natasha was scanning through her cards but it was fruitless. She couldn't find one monster in her deck that could beat Xavier's. And as that thought hit her, her reaction was to just flip through her cards and not make a move.

"Once I finish it with her, you're next." Xavier warned Jamie. Jamie looked over at Xavier and scoffed.

"Really, well, finish your turn with Natasha first."

"Finish my turn? It's all on her and look at her! She's just stalling for time! Stop delaying the inevitable and give me my win, Natasha!" he spat at her, breaking off his conversation with Jamie.

"Xavier, don't be foolish. It'll make you look like an idiot at the end of this duel."

"What?" Xavier asked, confused by Jamie's statement.

Jamie looked at Natasha as she continued to scan her cards, seemingly oblivious to the rest of them. "All she's doing is what any good duelist would do; thinking through a tough situation and looking for the best solution. But I'm going to help her out with that. Reverse Card, Open! Reassignment!"

A Spell Card flipped up on the field depicting a picture of a duelist throwing a card to another opposite of him.

"Reassignment?" he questioned.

"This Spell Card, for half of my life points, lets me either give control of one reverse card on my field to a player…or to give a player the effect of a Normal Trap Card on my field. I'll choose the second option! Then Reverse Card, Open, Waboku!"

"Waboku…" Xavier snarled. "You…"

"Through the effect of Reassignment, I'll give Natasha my Waboku's effect. No monster that she summons can be destroyed in battle and she will take no damage from this attack."

Both Xavier and Jamie knew what he was doing. Jamie had effectively made the absolute worst outcome of this duel be that it would be called a draw. With both cards having an effect now to not be destroyed in battle, it would be a stalemate.

"But I'm not happy with a draw. So we'll continue this duel anyway. How's that grab you, Xavier?"

Xavier rolled his eyes, but didn't argue it anymore, saying that this combo was just unbeatable, realistically. But contrary to what he was thinking, Natasha had done nothing but listen to their conversation. And Jamie's words brought her panic down. She stopped looking at her cards, closed her eyes, inhaled a long breath and let it out in a slow stream as she stared into Shining Phoenix Enforcer's eyes.

_Shining Phoenix Enforcer. Just break it down, piece by piece. Search for a weakness, Natasha. A Warrior-type fusion monster....A fire attribute monster....an effect monster....a base attack and defense power of 2500 and 2100....it's attack power goes up by 300 from each Elemental Hero in the graveyard....it can't be destroyed in battle....it's fusion is made up from Phoenix Enforcer and Sparkman....a Level 8 monster....it's – THAT'S IT!_

Natasha's eyes lit up and she again went to looking through her deck in earnest, looking for the only monster she had in her deck that would actually win her the duel. She found it, looked at it and the steely gaze in her eyes softened only slightly when she found that she owed Jamie credit for this.

"I'm getting tired of-" Xavier began.

"Shut up." Natasha cut in. "I'm going to give you one more lesson the second that I summon this monster."

"Which is?" Xavier asked, knowing that Natasha was bluffing.

"No combo is unbreakable."

With that, Natasha slipped her monster onto her Duel Disk and watched the monster appear on the field. Xavier didn't know what to make of the monster as it was one that wasn't readily describable. The monster was mechanical that hovered above the ground but was oddly formed. It had long, gangly arms but no legs. It's colors were composed of primarily gold and a dark blue that was metallic and polished to a nice shine. It barely had a chest portion of it's body, the other main component was eight pointers attached to it's back that crackled with blue electricity and seemed to give the mechanical monster its ability to float. Natasha called the monster…

"Kelbek! (1500/1800)"

Xavier swept his arm toward the little mech creature. "It's nothing but trash! Shining Phoenix Enforcer, kill it!"

Phoenix Enforcer, who still had the 'phoenix whip' attached to it's arm, flailed its arm backwards and let it fly, uncurling and approaching its target more like a striking snake than a bird of legend. The phoenix ensnared Natasha's monster, wrapping it up in a sphere of fire as it flew circles around it. The tail of the phoenix that was cornering Kelbek started to spread and it became a out and out fireball that was incinerating Natasha' monster. Or so it seemed. With the effect of Waboku that Jamie had given to Natasha through the effect of his Reassignment Spell Card, the monster couldn't be destroyed in battle, so inside of the fireball, Kelbek could be seen but it had taken on a fiercely orange tone. The metal that made up its body was being superheated and it showed.

But then, as the attack ended and the phoenix returned to Shining Phoenix Enforcer, a column of soft white and yellow light, interspersed with stars of light surrounded Xavier's monster.

"What the hell?!" Xavier exclaimed, watching as his own monster started to fade away in the column of light, from its feet to its head.

Natasha, with the intense look of her eyes starting to fade away, said, "Kelbek's special effect. When it's attacked, the monster that attacks it is returned to the player's hand. Shining Phoenix Enforcer cannot be destroyed in battle, but it is not immune to being bounced back to a player's hand."

XAVIER: LOSE

NATASHA: WIN  
JAMIE: WIN

Xavier immediately fell to his knees and hung his head. A few cards scattered around him that had slipped from his deck or his graveyard. Jamie and Natasha each let out inward sighs of relief. Neither could, or more accuately would, admit the level of which Xavier had pushed them too. But would willingly admit that it was a great duel, but only to themselves. Xavier had not proven himself worth their praises.

Natasha looked down at her Duel Disk and ejected her Sphinx Teleia card from her graveyard and stared at it. _I shouldn't have let Xavier even have the chance to destroy this monster. _

Jamie just retracted his Duel Disk to its standby position and replaced his deck into his holder. He glared hard down at Xavier, but the sight of him on his knees softened the ice that formed on his heart. He couldn't hate the guy after playing such a great duel. With some effort, he tried to wipe the scowl from his face and started to march toward Xavier.

Terry, having walked up to Natasha and congratulated her on her victory, watched with her as Jamie walked toward Xavier.

"Just what is he doing?" Natasha said aloud.

"Bah, being Jamie. Ole soft hearted and can't hate Jamie." Terry shrugged.

Natasha gave a dry laugh. "If you only knew…"

"That reminds me," Terry started, turning toward her. "Just how do you know Jamie? Old girlfriend?"

She laughed, "Step-sister."

"Huh?" Terry exclaimed, unprepared for that answer.

She spoke while shuffling her deck, "Both our parents were divorced but married one another when we were still pretty little. He's the one that taught me how to play this game almost the second it came out."

"Huh…" Terry grunted, taking it all in and watching what Jamie would do. He would have to give his friend a little more credit, having helped train a girl that was a national contender.

"Let me clarify that though." Natasha said quickly, "He taught me how to play the game and that's it." Terry looked at her and nodded, thinking she was trying to say 'nicely' that Jamie didn't really train her like he had first thought.

Xavier, who still hadn't moved from his spot on the ground, just stared into the gravel and ran thoughts through his mind. _Why? Why? I broke my back to get stronger with this deck and spent everything I could to acquire these cards. I hung in the game right until the end, giving just as well as either of them could give. I defeated both of their best cards. I called down my own ace card. But I still lost...Why am I the loser?!_

Jamie stood over Xavier looking down at the top of his head. "You shouldn't feel that bad about-"

"Quiet!" roared Xavier, looking up at Jamie with reddened eyes. "Damnit, be quiet. Don't belittle me…"

"Belittle you? Just wanted to congratulate you for that duel."

_Who congratulates a loser? I should've won that duel! _Was all that Xavier was thinking to himself. Either way, he forced himself up off the ground to stand level with Jamie. He didn't want to be on his knees before one of the duelists that had beaten him.

"You played it very well." Jamie said, offering his hand in a handshake.

Xavier was content to not offer his hand and just stared at the hand instead. Jamie caught his meaning and retracted his hand.

"Why are you being so childish?"

Xavier was trying with all he had to control his emotions and to keep from doing something that he didn't really want to do. He had already collected the cards that he had scattered on the ground and was turning to leave out into the city.

"You're really pathetic if you can't even admit that you lost and can own up to it like a man, Xavier."

He stopped cold. Xavier turned and glared at Jamie over his shoulder but didn't speak.

"You heard me." Jamie said.

"You had to work pretty hard to beat me in a 2-on-1 duel…" Xavier countered.

Jamie smirked smugly, seeing that his attempts at being respectful were doing nothing but making Xavier feel insulted. He decided to drop that approach, Xavier was becoming less and less worth his patience. "Who won in the end? Because that's all that matters."

Xavier grunted and the muscles in his arm tensed. "Crap…"

For all his hard work, Xavier wasn't immune or unaffected by the words he would speak himself; 'Winning is all that matters'. And he wasn't the winner, any other result means he's a loser.

"I'm going to wipe that smug look off your face, Jamie Cantou."

Jamie shrugged, but still kept smirking at Xavier, walking closer to him. "Whatever. You can't touch me, Xavier. I'll take your challenge anytime you-"

Xavier, knowing that Jamie was right behind him, blindly whipped around to his right and took a step back with his right foot. This put him in a position where he was almost right next to Jamie. As he turned, he extended his fist and swung a perfect backfist into the middle of Jamie's back. The blow caught Jamie unawares and he gasped desperately for air; the blow having knocked it all out of his body. He dropped to the ground instantly.

"Who can't touch who, worm!?" spat an enraged Xavier. He bent down to glare at the back of Jamie who was heaving and slightly gasping for oxygen.

"Son of a…" wheezed Jamie, getting onto his hands and knees and looking over to his side to see Xavier. He saw Xavier scowl at him and rear his leg back to kick him. Jamie sucked in a breath and awaited the blow…but it never came. He had closed his eyes expecting the kick, but when he opened them, he saw Xavier in the same position but he had a confused expression on his face. He was shaking all over.

"What the? I-I can't move!"

_Terry!_

Natasha had been watching the ordeal happen but didn't take notice when Terry stepped backwards, out of her peripheral vision. His right hand was clenched into a tight fist at his side, the muscles across his body tightening and tensing. Even the hairs on his head started to stand on end slightly. But his eyes had transformed from their normal brown to bright, emerald green and the eye of Anubis was on his forehead. The eye on his Millennium Puzzle glowed in tandem with the one on his forehead. Terry was gone and the unnamed presence he had created had taken over, speaking in his place.

"Come on, Xavier…I _welcome_ you to try that on me."

Xavier heard it and looked over at Terry, noticing the differences to his appearance. Instead of his hair being parted down the middle of his head and falling to the sides, it was now slicked back but it had a spikiness to it. His eyes had changed color and even his tone of voice seemed different from before. But he was more focused on the glow coming from his puzzle and the eye on his forehead.

"What the…?" Xavier blurted out loud, feeling his leg start to back away from Jamie against his will.

"Terry, what are you doing?!" Jamie exclaimed.

That caused Natasha to turn around and see Terry with the Eye of Anubis on his forehead and his puzzle aglow, along with the slightly different look that he had about him. Her first impulse was to wonder what caused him to slick his hair back, then question how he changed his eye color to green. But the objects glowing pushed those questions to the back of her mind. All she could do was gasp and murmur 'Oh, my God…'

Terry, or the person that was in control of his body, started walking forward. He ignored Natasha's stare. "Oh, hell no. Come on, try and treat me like some punk. _Please..._"

Xavier was completely confused. The guy that was in front of him was not the duelist that he had come to challenge. He acted like someone completely different from who he met just minutes before in person. Aside from the fact that somehow he was controlling the way his body moved. As soon as he thought it though, he felt his leg relax a little and he could control it again.

"What in the world was that?" Xavier said just above a whisper. Terry was standing right in front of him and had a devilish smirk on his face. He said nothing, all he did was lean forward toward Xavier, stick out his chin and point to it.

Xavier had had enough. He took that opportunity to use both of his working legs and left the parking lot with a quick pace. He didn't turn to look back, Terry had already given him plenty to think about and he would remember that face for a long time.

Jamie looked up from the pavement at Terry. Though he knew better though, Terry was not there right now. After the end of the Battle City Tournament, Terry had explained to Jamie and Knowledge just what he had 'created' with his Millennium Puzzle, through the machinations and plotting of Shadi. But this was the first time that Jamie had been face to face with that creation. He looked at the face of his friend, staring down at him with burning green eyes and a blank expression on his face. Then he offered his hand, which Jamie took.

"You'll live." He offered, hoisting Jamie to his feet.

Jamie was too shell-shocked to say any kind of thanks.

The creation turned back toward Natasha and looked at her over his shoulder. She was wide-eyed and speechless; a position Jamie himself had rarely seen Natasha in for quite some time.

Jamie looked at 'Terry', then back at Natasha, back to 'Terry', then over his shoulder to the retreating image of Michael Xavier. He sighed and reached into his back pocket to open his wallet.

"Let's just go have a seat and a soda and get these silly expressions off ALL our faces, I'll treat."

"You'd better." 'Terry' replied, leading the way back into the restaurant.


	5. Knowledge vs Janet : Power

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

The History Museum in Millstone City. With the recent excitement of Battle City and the tournament that surrounded it, a lot of the museums younger visitors disappeared over the course of the last week or so. But with the recent discovery that the museum's curator had arranged to be displayed here first in the country might draw some of them back in. Like most museums, they were halls of learning about the past of human history so that history wouldn't repeat the mistakes of yesterday. All the great discoveries and great tragedies were chronicled here. Man's first steps on the moon, The Chernobyl Disaster, September 11, 2001, The International Space Station, The Renaissance, Dinosaurs, so on and so forth. A testament to mankind, for all its great accomplishments and stupid blunders. This new discovery that the museum had gained 'first display' rights to was discovered recently in Northern China that dates back almost 3,000 years ago.

For the longest time, current historians believed that organized society in China began sometime around 1100 B.C. and that a shadowy government known as the Shang dynasty had flourished before the dawn of recorded history. But stories about the Shang were genrally rated as little more than legends. But they were proven to be wrong in a rather interesting way.

In 1899, a doctor visited a family to deliver a medicine to help treat malaria. Part of the prescription contained something called 'Dragon Bones' to be ground and added to a medicine of some sort. Before the head of the family ground these 'bones', he noticed they were not bones at all but yellowed pieces of turtle shell with scratch marks on them. But upon looking at them even closer, he was surprised to find that they weren't scratches, but actually some form of writing. This caused the man to buy up his doctor's entire stock of 'Dragon Bones' for closer investigation. He believed that these markings were relics of the afore mentioned Shang dynasty, proving that they were no mere legend. This proved that the Shang dynasty was the first literate civilization in China…and the world's earliest known existent writing system.

The Dragon Bones were used by the Shang dynasty, basically, as a form of fortune telling. They were, primarily, inscribed with questions that scribes would scratch into the surface of the bones. Then by taking a red-hot bronze point, they would touch it to the bones next to the question. The way that cracks formed on the bones told the Shang what they wanted to know from their gods or whatever spirits of the dead that governed such matters.

There are still excavations going on to this day, primarily in Northern China. It was on one of these digs that a particular set of Dragon Bones were unearthed that seemed to, unbelievably, not ask questions of their gods or whatnot. These seemed to translate to descriptions of grotesque, devilish monsters that were present in their mythos.

Arrangements were made immediately, once cleared through the Chinese government, to showcase the Dragon Bones in the United States for a short time. Millstone City Museum was chosen as the initial showcase site while the Dragon Bones were in America.

A trio of security guards were loitering around the museum's loading dock area. In the rear of the museum, a gated enclosure walls off a area large enough for three 18-wheelers to back into and load or unload merchandise on a raised concrete floor that sat about four feet of ground level. At the entrance to the gated area was a small guard booth that controlled the gates. Off to the far side was privy parking for various persons, like maintenance, VIP's, smaller deliveries, and so on. Two of the guards had parked their cars there. On top of the dock itself, three steel garage doors granted entry to the museum's interior storeroom. Currently, there was one 18-wheeler there that was finished loading a pair of large crates that carried ancient maps of the world before the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. The museum was sending them onto another city to make room for the Dragon Bones exhibit.

"You ever notice that you can get away with so much more crap with your lady when you got money?" one security guard was saying. He wore a shirt with a police shield sewn into it and the words "Top Flight" inscribed below it. The name tag read 'D. Haines'.

"Yeah, like what?" another similarly dressed guard was asking. His tag read 'K. Jordan'.

"Man you can tell them things like…shut the fuck up! And they do it!"

Both men broke into laughter, while the driver of the semi gave them a quick beat of his horn signaling them he was about to take off. They acknowledged him and Jordan stepped down from the elevated dock so that he could be seen by the third guard in the booth and got him to open the gate. The driver took off with his cargo in tow.

"Haines, you ain't gonna change at all, will you?" Jordan asked from the ground as he looked up at Haines.

"Never! God should've made my women with no feet because all I ever wanna see out of them is them either on they knees or me between them thighs!"

Jordan gave him a smug look. "It's only a matter of time until you lose this job too, then you'll be back on your OWN knees looking for a job."

"Aw, I'm never gonna let that happen, Jordan. This is the easiest money I've ever made. I watch over a bunch of dusty antiques, check in deliveries and keep kids from skateboarding around the entrance. I'm never gonna find an easier job than this!"

"You'd better-"

Jason didn't finish his sentence. He felt the sharp prick of something stinging him on the left side of his neck. His hand felt around for the culprit and removed a small dart with a yellow tail attached to it. The point looked very sharp and there seemed to be a fluid swirling in the center of the dart. He was about to ask Haines about it, but saw that he, too, was pulling a similar object from his right shoulder. Without looking, both guards looked over toward the direction of the darts, but didn't see anything. The anesthetic kicked in quickly and Jordan was the first to succumb, falling forward onto his knees before laying his head down onto the ground. Haines was next, teetering back and forth before slumping against the wall of the dock.

From behind the two guard's private vehicles, six figures dressed identically in black sweaters, black jeans and matching sneakers with hoods, ran toward the felled guards. Two branched off from the main group and ran up a small set of stairs that put them on top of the dock and started working on opening the middle bay door into the museum's interior.

One other from the main group on the ground dashed for the guard house. The guard inside had his back turned to the yard and was oblivious to the infiltration. The intruder whipped out a handkerchief soaked with an alcohol solution, burst through the doorway and quickly pressed the cloth against the guard's nose. The first reaction of the guard was to stand and turn himself to face his attacker. The intruder antipated it and leaned his knee into the back of the guards knee. It was completely unexpected and caused the guard to drop to his knees. The intruder was pressing the cloth to the guard's nose with his left hand. His right hand reached for the guards nearby right arm and cleverly applied a hold to him. He shifted so that instead of standing squarely behind him, he stood with his hip more against his arm than his back. By lining his hip up with the crook of the guard's elbow so that it rested right against him and pulling backwards, he immobilized the guard completely. The sensation of his arm being pulled in a direction it does not bend made the guard take in quick breaths of the solution and just accelerated the potions silent attack on his nerves. Seconds later, he was knocked out as well. The attacker, once he was sure he was out of it, let him go and he fell to the ground. A simple adjustment of the yard's security cameras that were focusing on the dock doors and the main gate exit, and his task was complete.

The three that had remained in the yard gathered up Jordan and Haines and laid them down against the far wall of the dock, concealed from the street by the fencing and various crates against that side of the wall. That finished, two of them rushed back to start up the white Astro Van in the yard that they had jimmied.

Up on the dock, the two had managed to swiftly undo the latches to the cargo door and raised it. Sunlight streamed into the darkened storeroom, illuminating it enough to forgo the flashlights the duo had brought with them. There were three rows of boxes, flats and crates with various tags on them. They knew the ones that they were looking for, and set about to quickly find it. As they searched, the two that had gotten the Astro Van pulled it into the front of the docking bay but kept a good few feet between them and the wall. The van sat significantly lower than the 18-wheelers did so the room was needed.

Inside, the two that were searching were joined by the three that had disposed of the guards and they began the search as well. It only took a minute afterwards for one of them to call out to the others and they crowded around a long rectangular wooden crate. The top was ripped away to reveal a layer of Styrofoam which was also discarded. Beneath some packing peanuts inside lay the target of the intruders. 10 Dragon Bones encased in plastic.

A duffel bag was produced and the Dragon Bones were laid in carefully. With that complete, the mission was nearly over, except for one more move.

With that, the three inside the storeroom took off their masks.

Outside, the attacker in the guard booth made sure to zoom in on the faces of the three as they gathered around the duffel bag. He got a nice, clear picture of the faces of Janet Rush, Kwandao Kawamura and Lamar Vega. On another camera outside that faced the entire dock, he zoomed in on the picture of the drivers who had taken their masks off to show the faces of Catravious 'Knowledge' Collins and Jamie Cantou. Meanwhile, the one in the guard booth, at last, removed his revealing Terry Hairston's face.

The mission was complete. The five by the dock doors loaded up and drove to the gate that 'Terry' opened. He made sure to smile at the camera that monitored the gate so as to see the identities of drivers that entered that area.

He looked up at the camera, smirked and waved good-bye.

* * *

The late afternoon sun shone in the sky, making an already hot day even more of a pain.

Knowledge paid it no attention though. He had left the card shop after receiving Janet's invitation of sorts. He walked in silence through the fairy quiet downtown streets. The heat having forced everyone to take sanctuary within AC cooled offices and restaurants. He was almost alone walking.

He walked with his hands at his sides and walked with his head slightly lowered. _She says she's stronger in some way...Just what kind of way is she talking about?_

He reached around for a side pocket on his backpack and pulled something out to look at it. The Millennium Eye sparkled in the sunlight. Knowledge exhaled a sigh and put the item in his pocket, fiddling with it and the loose change in there as he continued to walk.

_Re'-sha is gone, but there's still one thing I promised myself that I'd do. I gotta find some way to get Janet back. And the only way to do that is with this thing. But what if I lose..._

Knowledge reached the end of the sidewalk that fed into the very wide public space dubbed Public Square. Benches and sapling trees were scattered throughout. The way that the area was shaped, it was actually a large square area. Within that square, there were four smaller squares. The sidewalk he was standing on, which came from the south, continued on in the square to the north. Another walkway intersected with this one in its center.

And in the center of that X stood a woman with short brown hair that bore, only in Knowledge's mind, a small resemblance to Janet Rush. She was dressed in a very unique way. Despite the heat, she had wrapped her small frame into a violet jeans jacket that was cut short so it stopped just below her small bust. But the jacket had a full sleeve on her right arm, but on her left arm, which had a Duel Disk attached to it, was sleeveless. She wore some kind of tan shirt beneath it. Sleeveless, evidenced by the lack of one on her sleeveless jacket arm. A pair of black jeans and black sneakers completed the lower half. Around her waist was a deck holder attached to a loose belt that was threaded through only one the belt loops of her jeans, so it hung off to one side of her hips.

Knowledge continued at his slow pace to walk toward the woman. At present, she was turned so she faced away from him, a small wind picking up her short hair and letting it fly about a bit.

"Janet." Knowledge announced.

"I know you're there. I knew you would come anyways." Janet said almost dismissively, talking over her shoulder but not making eye contact.

"You knew I'd come because you invited me to come." Knowledge pointed out. "But the real reason I'm here is to get this curse off of you."

"Curse?"

"I'm going to reverse the effect of that Game of Darkness that Re'-Sha put on you and bring the old Janet back." Knowledge stated.

"Pssh." She dismissed the notion with a flutter of her hand over her shoulder. "I wonder if you can, Catravious."

Knowledge smirked. "Guess you still haven't dropped that annoying habit of calling me by my real name."

Janet turned and Knowledge got a chance to look at her face. Her short hair was just about neck length. Her hair hung over her eyes over her left eye and but was tucked behind her ear on the right side. Her brown eyes reflected a strong will and determination that was something the old Janet had seemed to lack at some times. Or a lot of the time.

"How did you plan on 'reversing' this Game of Darkness, anyway?" Janet asked.

Knowledge reached into his pocket and clenched his Millennium Eye, showing it off to Janet. "Through this."

Janet glared blankly at the object, with no sign of intimidation or fear. "Catravious, you've just proved again why you're don't even deserve a name like 'Knowledge'."

Knowledge looked down at the Millennium Eye. "What?"

Janet sighed. "Just what makes you believe that something like that….a Game of Darkness….is so easily reversed?"

Knowledge's voice caught in his throat.

Janet started to walk toward him, a gleam in her eye that unsettled Knowledge. "What gave you the idea that an item like that would be able to just reject the fact that something happened? Hmm?"

Knowledge admitted to himself that he hadn't thought about that. _All I really did...was take Terry's word that by playing in my own Game of Darkness that I could bring her back. But she's right. Terry is as new to using these items as I am. _

"No, Catravious. You're better off not using it. You don't know what a Game of Darkness does to a person. Re'-Sha knew better than any of us. Terry knows better than anyone currently. And I definitely know better than you. Save yourself the pain; mine was painless, but most certainly yours would be unbearable."

Without another word, Knowledge slowly brought the Millennium Item back and held it limply in his hand at his side. He had already had a brush with something as close as he wanted to get with being paralyzed. But as much as his heart was demanding for his mind to do it, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

And it frustrated him to no end; to feel that his own will to do the things that he set out to do was so weak and pliable that others molded it like putty.

Janet had pulled her deck out of its holster and was shuffling her cards idly. "Listen well, Catravious. Re'-Sha didn't do anything to me that I wouldn't have done to myself if I had the power to. She freed me of that shell that I had wrapped around me."

"Freed you? You make it sound like she was some kind of saint!" Knowledge exclaimed, waving his arm at her.

"No, just the opposite. I believed like the rest of you that she was evil. Whatever goodness in her had disappeared over time. What she did for me turned out to be something that…" Janet slammed her deck into her Duel Disk, forcing it to activate. "It turned out to be something that has the potential to make me a better person!"

Knowledge couldn't believe his ears, but he readied his own Duel Disk. "Make you better? The gift of a maniacal woman who desired to kill you? You think the outcome of that Game of Darkness was a gift to you? Stop joking with me!"

"It was, Catravious. It…This has given me a new oppourtunity to live a life that I had always wanted. Free of all those inhibitions that trapped me…shyness, insecurity, lack of confidence. I have this chance now to break away from all that, and to do that, I have to overcome the things that the old me couldn't."

Janet pointed an accusing finger at Knowledge, "You beat me once in Battle City and I watched you match up against Lamar Vega. You'll be the second step on my new road, Catravious."

"Second step?"

Janet refused to answer that, instead drawing her starting five cards and awaiting Knowledge's next move.

Knowledge stared hard at Janet as he did the same, drawing his starting cards and wondering just where his heart was. He had come to this place with all the determination in the world to play a Game of Darkness against her, consequences be damned, and win the old Janet back. But with a few words about him and death, he buckled and fell away like a scared old man.

"Tch…" he gripped his cards tighter in his hand and an audible 'swisssh' filled the silent air as he swung a card from his hand to his Duel Disk. "I'll summon Exploder Dragon (1000/0) in attack mode!" A medium sized dragon, as far as dragons go, materialized on Knowledge's field. It was a lean monster with a human-like muscular chest and thin black wings. In its two hands, it held a small red cylindrical object that was buzzing slightly.

_Exploder Dragon lets me destroy the monster that destroys this one in battle. And when it attacks, neither player will take damage from battle. Maybe this will get Janet to backpedal a bit. _"I'll end my turn." Knowledge announced.

"My turn. Draw!" Janet ripped the top card from her deck and, still holding onto it, looked over at it and smiled. "I should've told you a little earlier, Catravious. I created a new deck to go along with my new life."

"A new deck?" Knowledge asked casually, making the remark barely sound like a question at all. "This means what to me?"

"Well, you ask yourself that at the end of this duel. I'll summon Z – Zergling (1000/1000) in attack mode!"

"Z – Zergling?" Knowledge stuttered, tripping over his own tongue. He knew of the name Zergling very well, but it was something that was in a completely different world from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Nevertheless, Knowledge watched as a brown-backed monster card appeared on the field, signifying that the monster had some kind of effect. He noticed all the little details about the card before it disappeared. It was a dark attribute…an insect-type…it had some effect he couldn't read fast enough…it was level 4…and it was gruesome. The card hadn't lasted long on the field as the monster was summoned. A dark brown leathery skin, bordering on a very dirty orange, encased the monster. Its hind legs were hinged much like a grasshopper's and were sinewy and lean, signifying the monster's potential speed. A pair of small, pointed claws were attached to two, slim and bony arms that gave false security as to how strong it was. Rows of slimy teeth lined the monsters mouth, the most dominating feature of its face. Its red eyes were thin and narrowed, staring down its next meal in Knowledge's monsters.

"There's actually a Zergling monster…" Knowledge said to himself, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

Janet looked at her new monster with a small smile but no small bit of pride. "Z – Zergling has a nice special effect. When this card is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one 'Zergling Token (1000/1000) in attack mode!"

A curious thing started to happen. Janet's Zergling's entire left hand side started to shake violently. Its left leg twitched uncontrollably and it's left arm was very jittery. Then it spread to the monsters other side as well. It looked like it was having spasms of some kind. The zergling got down onto all fours and just seemed to roar into the ground below it. It did this twice more until the third time that it went to do it, something was coming out of its mouth. It stretched the mouth of the zergling open to accomidate it and it looked like a large caterpillar that started to flail about in the mouth of the zergling, eager to get free itself. One more heave and the zergling 'upchucked' this little monster that as soon as it touched the ground, it glowed in a white light that quickly transformed into the silhouette of the zergling that had birthed it. The white light faded away to reveal a perfect replica of Janet's original monster. The only difference was that this monster's eyes were green instead of red.

"One summon that's worth two monsters…" Knowledge growled to himself. _I know how the game is played. Zerglings are from a computer game, something that has nothing to do with this card game. But I guess someone had some time on their hands to make this card...or more likely, cards._

"But that monster has the same attack power as my Exploder Dragon, (1000/0) Janet. You'll lose your monster advantage just to attack me now." Knowledge pointed out.

"Very true." She agreed. "Which is why I won't do it just yet. Instead, I'll play this card. Spell Card! Cell Division!"

A Spell Card appeared on Janet's field depicting a long double-helix DNA strand cutting through the middle of a cell that was dividing on itself. The card glowed for a moment and the same color of green which the Spell Card had glowed now wrapped around the body of Janet's Z – Zergling.

"Cell Division?" Knowledge groaned. He didn't know the effect but he knew it had to be something bad.

Janet pointed to her Spell Card. "You'll learn to hate this card very quickly, Catravious. This Normal Spell Card acts like a Equip Spell Card and I can only use it with monsters that have "Z" in their names. As long as this card is on the field, in my End Phase, one Body Counter Token (0/0) is summoned to the field at the cost of two of my targeted monster's Level Stars. Of course, when my monster has no more Level Stars or cannot pay for the cost of this card's effect, it's destroyed. Only one Body Counter Token can be on the field at one time."

Knowledge narrowed his eyes, taking in this new information. "Then in other words, you can gather a sacrifice for pratically nothing. It's one of those tokens you can use for a sacrifice summon, isn't it?"

"Exactly." Janet agreed, licking her lips. "I'll set two reverse cards to end my turn." When she announced the end of her turn, her Cell Division card started to glow again, along with the Z – Zergling that it had targeted. A clear but partially visible silhouette of Z – Zergling appeared that was partially overlapping the image of the original monster. It slowly moved to the side, gaining more solidity as it went until when it was completely clear of the original monster, another carbon copy was on the field. This one, however was behind the other two, standing right in front of Janet's Cell Division card.

Knowledge growled, knowing that this was the last thing that he needed. By the end of her first turn, she had managed to gather enough sacrifice bait to potentially summon a God Card, if they existed. In the first turn, he realized, she had shown him just a sample of how much stronger she was…or maybe just how much she had changed in this short period of time.

"Summoning a bunch of monsters that barely have an attack power that's worth noticing is nothing to me, Janet." Knowledge balked. "Be it one or ten, I'll bust them all up."

Janet gave him a dry laugh. "Catravious, you do know where the idea for these monsters came from, right?" Knowledge nodded. Janet crossed her arms as she explained, "Then you know that that one idiosyncrasy of the Zerg, this race of monsters, is deception. When you think there are 2, there are 20. When you kill 25 of them, 50 more have been born to take their place. When you think your have the situation under control, it's beyond controllable."

_Yeah, all things I already know, Janet_…Knowledge thought to himself. "I'm not afraid of a few zerglings or a new deck type that you're showing off. My turn. Draw!"

"I'll summon Shade of a Dragon (1300/900) in attack mode!"

Knowledge slapped his card down on his Duel Disk and watched as a shadow from a tree that had been cast over the field started to distort itself. It wavered slightly and started to pool into a large circle on the ground. From that circle, a pair of solid blue eyes appeared and the shadow started to form into a solid mass on the field. The figure had the shape of a small, almost child dragon, but was completely transparent and able to see through. Along the body of the dragon, blue highlights were seen wherever you might expect a shadow to cast on the body from the sun.

"Shade of a Dragon…" Janet repeated to herself, narrowing her eyes.

"Shade of a Dragon, (1300/900) attack the Zergling Token! (1000/1000)" Knowledge commanded.

The shadow dragons eyes flashed blue for just a second and then it quickly laid itself on the ground. It became a shadow on the ground but it retained its shape that it had had as a three-dimensional monster. It sped across the ground and thinned its own tail into a longer and slimmer one that it used to ensnare the Zergling Token. The little creature struggled violently against its bonds but Shade of a Dragon had it wrapped up tightly and was not letting go. While the tail held the zergling down, the rest of the shade again formed into a shadow dragon on the field, rearing back it's head to deliver a strike.

"Hmph. Naïve." Janet simply said haughtily, sweeping her hand toward one of her reverse cards. But as she did, she did see a smirk briefly pass over Knowledge's face. _Is he expecting me to spring a trap against this attack? I'll just have to oblige him then._

"Reverse Card, Open! Hidden Creep Colony!"

A Trap Card appeared on Janet's field, depicting a circular, pulsing mass that was the focal point of the picture but in the background, several different kinds of monsters were trapped in tendrils from the defensive organism.

"This trap card lets me reduce an attacking monsters attack power by 100 points for each of its Level Stars. Shade of a Dragon has four Level Stars and an attack power of 1300. So it's reduced down to 900!"

The binds that had been holding down the Zergling Token were being forced apart by the devilish creatures own strength. With one big heave, the zergling gathered its strength and literally broke Shade of a Dragon into pieces; dark flakes of nothingness scattered around Janet's side of the field like black snowfall.

KNOWLEDGE: 3900

JANET: 4000

Knowledge pointed at the Zergling Token. "Thanks for doing me a favor with your monster, Janet."

"Hmm?" she hummed aloud.

Knowledge removed his deck from its holder and stated to search through it while explaining, "You must've known Shade of a Dragon's special effects right? I'll use its first effect. When you destroy Shade of a Dragon in battle and send it to the graveyard, I can search my deck for a Light-Type monster and add it to my hand."

"A Light-Type monster…" Janet growled under her breath. She knew well enough what monster Knowledge was going to search for.

Knowledge had selected his monster and gave his deck a quick shuffle before setting it back into his Duel Disk. "Heh, thanks Janet. Because of you, Blue-Eyes White Dragon is in my hand." Knowledge beamed, showing her the monster he had selected from Shade of a Dragon's effect.

"So what?" Janet instead returned. "You'll never get the chance to summon it, Catravious."

"Heh, you can only hope so." Knowledge chuckled, and ended his turn.

"I'd be a little more serious if I were you, Catravious." Janet picked up another card from her hand. "I'll summon Z – Mutalisk (1600/1000) in attack mode!"

A sound that seemed to cross between a shriek and a scream make Knowledge turn his attention toward the sky. If he didn't know it any better, the monster that dropped down into sight before him would've looked exactly like a long, cylindrical tail that had a pair of wings on it. There were more details to it than that however. The monster seemed to not have a head, instead it had a 'snout' with a pair of upturned fangs for a face. A little further down the body rested its wings. The remaining tail was covered with slightly overlapping hardened layers of tough skin.

"Disgusting…" groaned Knowledge, bringing his Duel Disk up like a shield to block his vision of the monster.

Janet ignored his insult, instead she pointed to her face up Cell Division Spell Card on the field, which now had a glowing blue-green mote of light with a skull on it above it as well as that silhouette zergling. "Now I'll use the effect I've reaped from Cell Division. I'll sacrifice that Body Counter Token to summon Z – Defiler (800/2200) in defense mode!"

"Z – Defiler?" Knowledge demanded.

In a flash, the Body Counter Token that had been on Janet's field disappeared, leaving behind shattered white pieces of light in the air that hung like suspended snowflakes. After a moment, they all converged together and started to form into a large rectangular card and Janet's monster card appeared on the field. It was barely there long enough for Knowledge to see that this monster was indeed an effect monster and it seemed to have a long description of its effect. In the next moment, the monster bust through the face of the card to wriggle on the ground, staring directly at Knowledge with haunting red eyes. The monster seeded to blend attributes of both a scorpion and a snake. It had large claws on either side of its body near its shoulders but it crawled on the ground to move, much like a snake.

Janet lowered her stare so she looked at Knowledge through the hairs that fell over her eyes. "This Monster is gonna bury you, Catravious…"

Knowledge looked at this new monster of Janet's, the Defiler. Knowledge knew from his knowledge of the computer game, Starcraft, what a pain that the Defiler creature was. Actually, pain wasn't the correct way to put it. It was a monster that could swing battles and to leave one alive was the most terrible mistake that every person that had died due to it had made. It tittered and twitched on Janet's side of the field, awaiting the next command to send it after Knowledge's monsters even as it sat in defense mode.

"A Defiler…" Knowledge said aloud, just audibly.

"You know this monster, too." Janet pointed out. Knowledge nodded, but then he pointed right at it.

"I know that the first chance that I get, I'll kill it."

"Wise. Defiler has three different effects that I can use from it. But I won't be using them this turn. No, not yet."

She stared at the backs of her three monsters compared to Knowledge's one lone Exploder Dragon. She turned toward her Z - Zergling. "Z – Zergling, (1000/1000) attack his Exploder Dragon! (1000/0)"

Janet's monster let out a screeching howl that sounded more like a rusting gate being opened and charged toward Knowledge's dragon on all fours. Exploder Dragon retaliated by extending its wings and flying just a few inches off its feet. It flattened itself parallel to the ground and glided toward the Zergling, the small orange bomb palmed in its left claw and out in front of it as it flew. When they were within feet of colliding, the Zergling surprised the dragon by leaping into the air, aiming to land on its backside and attack it from there. Exploder Dragon was quick to react by slowing its gliding pace, rearing up and flying upwards a bit to plant its still outstretched spherical bomb right into the chest of the Zergling. Upon contact, the bomb exploded taking both monsters out with a violent explosion. Flame shot from the center of the blast and a small shockwave sent strong gusts of air out from the center.

"Tch…no monster to protect me." Knowledge muttered to himself, shielding himself partially with his Duel Disk strapped arm from the wind. He glanced up at Janet as she was pointing a raised, palm out hand at her Z – Mutalisk.

"I'll use the effect of my Z – Mutalisk (1600/1000). I can reduce the attack power of my Mutalisk by 300 points to attack twice in my battle phase!"

"What?" Knowledge exclaimed, watching as two large green, fast moving clouds were screaming toward him. He had little chance to defend himself from it and watched helplessly as Z – Mutalisk stripped him of 2600 Life Points.

KNOWLEDGE: 1300

JANET: 4000

"Damnit…" Knowledge growled at himself, dropping down to one knee and staring hard at Janet.


	6. Wait, I Did What?

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

"You never quit, I'll give you that." Janet said, looking at Knowledge pick himself up off the ground.

"Heh, you gotta say that I'm a bit of a hardhead." Knowledge chuckled.

Janet smirked at her opponent begrudgingly, "Yeah, which I can agree with."

Knowledge looked at Janet closely through his half smile. He was no absolute judge of character but for the life of him, he couldn't see anything really all that different about Janet if he didn't have the knowledge that Re'-Sha had beat her in Game of Darkness. She isn't the same kind of opponent that he saw in Re'-Sha. It made him remember her words to him before the duel started, about how that game had actually turned out to work to her favor and break her of her old self. He hadn't known Janet that long. They had met in the midst of Battle City. But through the time that he had around her, he was pretty sure that she was confident of herself and her abilities. Nothing that suggested that she would be at all 'grateful' for the outcome of that Game of Darkness.

_Was she really not lying about this being for her benefit?_ He thought to himself.

"To end my turn, I'll play another Cell Division Spell Card on my Z – Defiler. End Turn." Jane said, watching a matching Spell Card appear on her field in place of the old one. When she sent her Zergling in to suicide against his Exploder Dragon, it took her Spell Card with it.

Knowledge silently drew his next card, thinking about his current situation. Right now, his field was naked. He really needed to clean up Janet's field before doing much else of anything. She had one reverse card on her field along with her Cell Division Spell Card. On her field was the Zergling Token, (1000/1000) Z – Mutalisk, (1600/1000) both in attack mode, and Z – Defiler (800/2200) in defense mode. Just like they were in their native game, these bugs were proving hard to kill. But like he had said, the Defiler was his main worry. It had sat in defense mode since Janet had summoned it, waiting to the moment to pop whatever effect it had on him. He knew he had to get rid of it quickly and knew what monster he would use to do it. He stared right at the Defiler as he selected a card from his hand and placed it on his Duel Disk.

"OK, I'll summon Kaibaman (200/700) in attack mode!"

A near identical look-alike to the arrogant, yet self-confident Seto Kaiba materialized on the field. A flowing white sleeveless trench coat with a inner red lining laid over a dark black pair of slacks and a long sleeve shirt. A pair of belt loops were wrapped around both his upper arms and lower legs. But unlike Seto Kaiba, this 'monster' wore a mask fashioned like the head of Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Also out of place when compared to Seto Kaiba was the long red ponytail of hair that cascaded out of the back of the helmet.

"Kaibaman…" Janet snickered. "Are you serious?"

Knowledge smirked, but held up a card in his hand as he spoke. "So you don't know the effect of my monster?"

"What effect?"

"That when I summon this monster, I can sacrifice it to Special Summon…a certain white dragon."

Janet didn't believe her ears and took a closer look at Kaibaman as she yelled, "You mean -!"

From an inner jacket pocket, Kaibaman produced a Yu-Gi-Oh card and held it in front of him in his left hand, back facing Janet. From beneath the mask, she saw him smile at her, turn his body slightly to the right, cocked his arm and flung the card into the air like a Frisbee. She watched its path as it cut through the air and ended up in front of the afternoon sun, blinding her. It continued to spin but held its place there until the card started to twist and expand, shaping into the shape of the white dragon. The wings shot out as the main body quickly finished forming and it started to glide down from its place in the air. It hovered just above and behind Knowledge. The sun seemed to find a new place to shine and Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) shimmered above the playing field.

The light had an unintended effect of falling against some surrounding trees and they cast shadows down onto Janet's set of Zerg monsters, which they found 'extremely' comfortable. In the shade, their red eyes burned as they looked up at a new intruder to their field. They hissed and growled at the white dragon. In turn, Blue-Eyes lowered its neck and roared at them all, but neither backed down. Much like their duelists hadn't either.

"Blue-Eyes is not going to save you from my monsters, no matter how powerful it might be."

Knowledge felt a pang of déjà vu. His thoughts took him back to the end of his Battle City Quarterfinal duel against Lamar Vega. Lamar had beaten him with his own signature, but weaker, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The duel still stung in his mind but the lessons he drew from that defeat burned even brighter.

"How powerful Blue-Eyes is doesn't make a bit of difference if I'm not just as skilled at using it." Knowledge shot at Janet. Janet, slightly taken aback, blinked in surprise. "I've been beaten badly before…It'll probably happen more and more in my time playing this game. But if I just rely on that monsters power to carry me, then I'm not much of a duelist. More like a leech."

Janet regained her composure and lowered her gaze. Knowledge couldn't see her expression but did hear her begin to chuckle, annoying him.

"Oh, Catravious. You are exactly right, you know?" she said, just smiling now with her head raised and raking a hand through her short hair.

Knowledge didn't reply.

"You can't rely on a single monster to single handedly carry you. But you're also right when you say that you haven't stopped losing badly. Heh, we all probably will, myself included. I have to admit that you have become stronger yourself…"

She let her free hand come to rest on her hip and glared hard at Knowledge.

"But you're not the better duelist today."

Now Knowledge matched her glare. Her glare was not angry or heated, nor cold or demeaning. It seemed like a look when you're just stating the facts.

"Prove it! Blue-Eyes (3000/2500) attack Z – Defiler! (800/2200) Burst Stream!"

Blue-Eyes reared back its neck, still maintaining its position above and slightly behind Knowledge, and started collecting energy in its mouth. It only took a moment and then the dragon snapped forward and exposed the inside of its mouth, causing a white beam of energy to shoot from it toward Janet's Z – Defiler, which was sitting in defense mode.

"Very nice, just not good enough, Catravious!"

As she said it, the Zergling token on her field transformed. It's green, glowing eyes quickly widened and the rest of its body turned the same color as it's eyes. Then the monster dissolved into a thick, viscous slime that Defiler began to consume. As it did, Defiler started glowing. Lightly at first but as it ate and ate, it began to glow in a more fierce orange colored aura that stood off its scorpion like body like it was aflame.

"By sacrificing an Insect-Type monster on my side of the field or discarding one in my hand…during either your turn or mine, I can use one of Z – Defiler's three effects. For this turn, I'll use its third effect!"

The aura that surrounded Defiler suddenly grew from a small flame into a wildfire in a second. The sight confused Knowledge as he tried to figure out what was about to happen. He was completely unprepared for that fire to turn itself into a thick haze that surrounded Janet's entire field, obscuring her and her monsters. Blue-Eyes' attack continued onward and pierced through the haze. An explosion could be seen that caused the haze to scatter slightly but Knowledge was immediately on guard as he saw a pair of red eyes, nearly camouflaged by the haze.

"What the…" he said aloud.

"You missed."

As soon as it was said, the haze was swept aside by unseen winds that revealed all three of Janet's Zerg monsters still on her field, including the Defiler that was the target of his attack.

"You just saw the third effect of my Defiler, Catravious. I can negate one attack from my opponent that targets an Insect-Type monster on my field. I chose to protect my Defiler from destruction with its own abilities to make opponent's miss. "

"Tch…" Knowledge growled. _I knew I was right to go after the Defiler first. There' s two other effects to this monster that I haven't seen yet, but that one is enough of a problem all on its own. All her monsters on the field are Insect-Type, so they all can hide in that haze._

"I'll set one reverse card. End turn." Knowledge said, watching a single card appear at his feet.

"My turn. Draw." Janet announced, looking at her new card. The only card that she had in her hand, in fact. She turned it to face Knowledge before she did anything else and Knowledge was quick to respond when he saw what it was.

"Set Card, Open! Forced Back!"

Both the Trap Card on Knowledge's side of the field and Janet's card glowed in the same off red color.

"I won't let you summon another Z – Zergling to add fodder to that Defiler." he declared, pointing at the monster that she had intended to summon.

Janet, instead, retaliated by sweeping her free Duel Disk equipped hand toward one of her own set cards, allowing it to reveal itself as a card that Knowledge himself was pretty familiar with.

"Reckless Greed…" he quipped.

"That's right."

"I thought you would've learned about that card by now."

"Oh, I've learned all about how i should be using this card…" she quickly snatched two cards off the top of her deck. "You taught me that, chum. Its just that I now only use it when I have the clear advantage. Or when my opponent is down to their last turn."

Knowledge wanted to dispute that but only made a noise of disapproval from his throat.

Janet selected another card from her hand. "I'll play this Spell Card, Double Summon."

Despite his efforts, Janet was allowed to summon her Z – Zergling (1000/1000) after all. As soon as the original appeared, another Zergling Token appeared on her field. Her field was now completely filled with Zerg monsters, each snipping and snarling in sucession at Knowledge's Blue Eyes, which hovered above them all. Its as if they were just waiting for the dragon to touch down on the ground for them to begin the feeding frenzy.

Knowledge didn't speak on this. He was with his single monster against five. Even if they all were weaker than his own, the fact that he didn't know these monster types and that Defiler had two other effects that he didn't know about made him all the more nervous.

"For this turn, Catravious, I'll show you another of Defiler's special abilities. I'll use it's first effect!"

Again, like before, the newly summoned Zergling Token dissolved into a green slime that Defiler was apparently about to consume, but this time, it did something different. Instead of consuming it, the monster spewed the remains of the Zergling Token at Blue-Eyes. And the second it contacted the majestic dragon's skin, white vaporous smoke rose from the areas hit and the dragon let loose a deafening roar that shook the surrounding area. Knowledge look upward at his monster as this slime was seemingly eating its way into his monsters body slowly. The vapor over the patches of slime were slowly increasing in volume and the slime itself was eating further into the dragon.

"What did you do?"

"That's my Defiler's main effect, its plaguing ability."

"Plague?"

"To use an effect of Defiler's, any of it's effects, I must sacrifice an Insect-Type monster from my field or discard one from my hand. With its plaguing ability, I can sap all my opponent's monsters ATK and DEF equal to half of my sacrificed monster's original ATK power. The Zergling Token that I sacrificed had an ATK of 1000. Half of that was deducted from Blue-Eyes White Dragon's ATK and DEF."

As she said it, a counter appeared to next to Blue-Eyes, who had set itself on the ground, showing its stats at (2500/2000). And the second that the dragon was on the ground, all of Janet's monsters became overcome with desire to attack and maim it.

"I've weakened it enough to finish you, Catravious. I'll sacrifice Z – Defiler and Z – Mutalisk…"

Both monsters disappeared in small columns of yellow light interspersed with stars as Janet slapped down a new card onto her Duel Disk.

"…To summon Z – Ultralisk! (2800/2500)"

Janet's new card appears briefly on the field, a normal monster card, and it instantly shatters as the actual monster breaks through the picture on the card and trumpets onto the field. The only way to simply classify Ultralisk would to be if you crossed an elephant with a dragonfly. The sheer bulk of this Zerg monsters in comparison to its bony brethren was a stark contrast, but there was no underlying doubt it was a Zerg. Same tough leathery looking skin and the same lifeless eyes. But these were black, even more cold and disturbing to look into and see your own self doubts staring back at you. The monster reared back and charged forward through the line of Zerg monsters toward Blue-Eyes, in defense, started to collect energy in its mouth to attack back. Just as it finished and was about to let loose the Burst Stream, Ultralisk lowered its head and kept on charging forward. The beam cut through the air like lightning and struck Ultralisk straight on its lowered head, but the beast kept on charging through. Scattered bits of the beam broke away, flying off in various directions but Ultralisk was unfazed. When the Zerg monster was just upon Blue-Eyes, it lowered its head more and snapped it upward when it had managed to put its head below the maw of the dragon. It had the same effect of an uppercut, cutting off the attack from Blue-Eyes and bursting though the dragon as it shattered into pixels.

"Blue-Eyes!" Knowledge yelled.

KNOWLEDGE: 1000  
JANET: 4000

"This duel is mine…Z – Zergling, (1000/1000) attack the player directly!"

The Ultralisk, which had not retreated toward Janet's field, crouched down slightly. If Knowledge hadn't been distracted by the destruction of Blue-Eyes, he would have heard the quick little steps of the Zergling dashing toward him. Instead, he only noticed that a shadow had come over his field of vision. He looked upward to the sky only to see a Zergling that had jumped off the back of Ultralisk, into the air and was descending toward him. The sun was to the monsters back, casting shadow onto its hide. All Knowledge could see was the red, lifeless eyes, exposed teeth and pair of claws. Those claws slashed at him mercilessly, knocking him backwards and onto the ground.

KNOWLEDGE: 0  
JANET: 4000

All of Janet's monsters silently faded away as she removed all her cards from her Duel Disk and pocketed her deck. The disk whirred and clicked back into its standby mode as she began to advance toward Knowledge, who hadn't picked himself up off the ground. "You had said that you wanted to remove this 'curse' off of me, Catravious. But I'll ask you again. What curse? A curse is something one doesn't want to deal with, something one doesn't want to live with. This freedom that I've got now is no curse, it's a liberation."

Knowledge didn't move. His eyes were closed as he laid there, seemingly unconscious. Janet continued to talk. "When I lost that duel against Re'-Sha, she did something that I _do_ regret. She told me what you and Terry were arguing about. About how…you had no faith in me to beat Re'-Sha. To even match up against her…it made me so sad…"

Janet's voice had dropped to being just a casual whisper by this point.

"But instead of reacting in the way I might've before, to just bottle those feelings within me…I just lashed out against you and started beating you. It was in that moment, right after our duel, that I could see just how she had changed me. And while I regret it now, it felt so exhilarating right then and there. I mean, it was like I could do what I really wanted to, and not feel bad about it. I, Janet, couldn't be walked over anymore. She couldn't be intimidated, she was becoming someone that she could look up to herself. An independent, liberated woman. Like Natasha Chapel is…"

Janet bent down to her knees and looked at Knowledge's face.

"I don't expect forgiveness for that. But I don't have the slightest, not even the slightest desire in my heart to become the little girl I was before. I think your intention was good, but a good intention without good judgment is worthless. I'm happier this way. I had hoped you would understand it better but, true to your form, you can really be a knucklehead…a sweet little knucklehead."

Janet leaned down, brushing a few hairs away from the temple of Knowledge's head and laid a soft kiss onto his forehead. Her brown eyes started to water ever so slightly and she stood up quickly to avoid doing something she never wanted to do again.

"I hope you understand better now, Catravious."

With that, she took one more look at Knowledge, turned on her heel and started walking away. "That first step I said I took to change myself? That you wanted to know about? That was to pledge to myself to _never_ return to my old ways."

* * *

Silence had set in over the table that Jamie, Natasha and 'Terry' were sitting at. Since their duel had ended, they had walked back into the restaurant and were allowed in now that Xavier, who was the cause of the disturbance, had left. All three of them sat quietly, with Terry staring out of the window at the afternoon sun. Natasha quietly sipped on her soda, staring into it but glancing up at Jamie and 'Terry' after every sip. Jamie saw it was going to have to be on him to get the conversation started. He sucked in a breath, grabbed his own soda and called 'Terry's' name.

"Hmm?" he said, still looking out the window.

"Um…" Jamie fiddled with his straw, looking down at his own soda now. "Thanks for before. You know, outside with Xavier and all?"

'Terry' shrugged his shoulders. "Meh."

"What DID happen out there anyway?" Natasha said, busting into the conversation now that it had gotten started.

'Terry' looked over at her. They were seated in a booth against a window with 'Terry' sitting by himself on one side and Jamie and Natasha sitting on the other together. He stared her up for a moment. "You want the truth of it?" he asked.

"Of course." she replied, not expecting anything but the truth.

"Well, I used an ancient power held within this Millennium Puzzle called Dark Power to manipulate…well whatever it is I want to manipulate with it. I used it to keep ol' boy's leg from stomping a hole into that guy's stomach. Then I dared him to try it on me and I guess his legs took over from his ego and got him the hell out of here."

Jamie nodded in agreement, while Natasha stood there with a neutral expression on her face. It quickly turned to one of disbelief and anger. "I thought you were gonna tell me the truth!" she hissed.

"That's the truth." he replied.

"I don't believe you."

"You don't believe me?"

"No."

"I guess the nice thing to do would be to demonstrate it for you."

"You don't need to demonstrate something that is a lie and impossible."

"Impossible?"

"That's right."

"Tell me something, you believe in ghosts?"

"Wha-huh?"

"Well? Do you?"

"No."

Natasha was staring straight at 'Terry' as they spoke and she saw, in complete disbelief of her eyes, 'Terry's' own eyes flash golden for just a brief second. And in the next instant, both shoulder straps to her dress dropped to the side of her arms. She let out a quiet shriek, looked down and crossed her arms around her chest, using them to hold her dress up. She hooked her thumbs into her straps and set them on top of her shoulders again.

"Little pervert!" she whispered.

'Terry' just smirked and waved his index finger like it was a magic wand at her. "Well, you said you don't believe in ghosts, so that's that."

"Terry." Jamie piped in, not turning in time to see what it was that had made Natasha shriek, but not too concerned.

"Yeah?"

"Just what are you?"

Natasha looked over at Jamie, wondering where a question like that came from. 'Terry', meanwhile, leaned back into his seat more and slowly turned his neck, eliciting two dull popping noises from his neck. "Well, the best way to say it is that I'm a ghost."

Jamie scoffed. "A ghost?"

"That's right. Aren't ghosts the things that haunt people? The things that come from people that have unfinished business before they pass to the here after? Sounds like the best explanation to me."

Jamie listened. "Unfinished business? I don't get it."

'Terry' shifted in his seat so that his back was against the window of their booth with his feet dangling slightly off the end of the bench. He crossed his arms and stared straight ahead."Your friend Terry created a ghost. A shadow of himself, a shade, a spectre living within him, a poltergeist, a manifestation of himself and all that. With some differences. With me so far, kids?"

Like good students, both Jamie and Natasha nodded.

"Good. So I'm like his shadow. What's that word these nerds use? A 'Yami'? Yeah, something like that."

"And what do you want?" Jamie asked, softly,

'Terry' laughed, "Something to drink, right about now." And he flagged down a waitress that was heading their way with refills for all their drinks anyway. He took a healthy swig of root beer and settled back into his seat again.

"Just what happened to you guys?" Natasha asked of Jamie and 'Terry'. "I had seen that wild finals between you and that other girl and the crazy duel that erupted. It was…"

"That…" 'Terry' interrupted, his tone becoming serious. He stared down at his puzzle. "That was all real. Every bit of it down to the blood and seemingly broken bones."

"Natasha, it goes like this." Jamie said, holding his throbbing head with both his hands palming his forehead. "Terry basically became the world's guardian when he got this puzzle. Basically, he needed to grab all the other items to keep them from that girl you saw him duel in the finals a few days ago. That girl had a spirit in her Millennium Ring that was some lunatic that could use Dark Power as well and was itching to get the items that Terry had. Long story short, they dueled, he won, she…disappeared."

"I see…" she said, taking in the information, but still haunted by doubts herself. She turned to 'Terry'. "So then, going back to what Jamie was saying, just what are you? You said a ghost, but haven't you finished your 'unfinished business'?"

Jamie and Natasha were somehow surprised by his response of no. "That business that I took care of was Terry's. Something that…we…finished together. Between me and you, he needs to grow a set and learn to use them."

Despite herself, Natasha let out a snicker. Jamie was far from amused though. He didn't like this 'thing'. "So what's your name, then? I won't go around calling you Terry." Jamie said.

'Terry' lowered his gaze and leaned over the edge of the table to look Jamie in the eye. "Sounds like you have a problem…"

"I do."

"Well, please do explain since we're playing 'true confessions' and all."

"I don't like you or trust you, thing."

"And why is that?"

"Anything born from those Millennium Items is nothing but a nuisance."

With a voice that would send black cats running, 'Terry' said, "Seems like you've got a set. I'll show you a nuisance."

"Down boys." Natasha chipped in, trying to break up the two of them. Jamie laid off and 'Terry' stopped leaning over the front of the table. "And I hear you're supposed to be the one that's pretty cool, James. Really quick to label me some kind of criminal when you're just now meeting me." 'Terry' said, still holding Jamie's glare with his own.

"Hopefully, I won't have to make your acquaintance for long…" Jamie mumbled.

"Jamie, now, now. That's not nice." Natasha chided.

"Not nice? I don't have a clue as to what this thing is."

"My name…ain't thing." 'Terry' said, now sitting straight and facing both Natasha and Jamie. "But if you're so adamant on me NOT using the name, Terry, what do you suggest, smart mouth?"

"I got more than a couple of suggestions, you son of a…" Jamie trailed off. 'Terry' just smiled.

"Well, aren't you sharp?" said Terry.

"Hmm?" wondered Jamie. "Sharp. Sharp…"

"Sharp…" 'Terry' turned it over in his mind. "Why not? It's like making my own birth certificate."

"Sharp? What kind of name is that?" Natasha said.

"The perfect kind for a man that doesn't really exist…" Jamie muttered under his breath.

* * *

At public square, Knowledge finally opened his eyes. Without a word, he raised himself up off the ground, dusted off his backside and looked around at his surroundings. He was slightly surprised that no one had come into the square he and Janet dueled in and was concerned with a guy laid out in the middle of a public area.

"Then again, I wouldn't do much for a guy laid out on the ground in a place like this." He mumbled to himself.

Contrary to what Janet seemed to be thinking, Knowledge was conscious and alert the entire time she had been speaking to him after the duel. The initial fury that Knowledge felt with himself passed quickly as she spoke. And as she finished, his feelings were twisted from anger to rage to depression and dejection to finally a sort of reluctant acceptance.

_Janet's gone. She's got no desire to undo what's been done to her._

He started walking away from the square, hands at his sides but his head lowered and his spirits even lower than that.

_I guess if I saw it from her point of view...It makes a bit of sense..._

That information did absolutely nothing to lighten the miserable mood that enveloped him now.

* * *

The trio of Natasha, Jamie and Sharp as it is now, were leaving the restaurant together. They had been there for another hour, basically trying to gather more information on just who and what Sharp is. Jamie's opinion of him was decisively negative. No good came of working with the Millennium Items and as good as the intentions Terry might've had for this, he would have distrust for this…thing.

Natasha, who was still trying to come to terms with the fact that that Millennium Puzzle Terry had always been seen wearing was actually real. Or actually, was real in that it gave him some very strange power. She barely knew Terry and now she had to deal with the fact that this person was someone completely separate from Terry Hairston. A complete trip.

"So when will Terry come back?" Jamie asked Sharp.

Sharp looked up at the sky. "Not sure myself. Switching personalities isn't something that comes naturally, I think."

Jamie grated his teeth at the comment, even though it wasn't meant to be snide. Sharp was being truthful. Whenever he tried to willingly switch with Terry, it was like some kind of block was holding him back, preventing him from doing so. He imagined that that was the case for Terry as well. There very well might be some key with the Millennium Puzzle but in the one time that the two of them had 'met' face-to-face, Sharp had only gotten the basics on how to utilize the Millennium Puzzle. He did receive all of Terry's dueling knowledge and a few of his memories. But just really a mission to beat Re'-Sha and keep the Millennium Puzzle from her.

Not that he really minded. He didn't like to utilize it anyway. It left him feeling pretty weak and it was better than being in the dark little recess of his mind whenever Terry seemed to be in control.

It was times like this he would've liked to be able to communicate with him in his mind or something, but that wasn't possible as Terry explained to him and he had explained to Jamie and the hot blonde, Natasha. He wasn't some spirit, some ghost that lived in a magic box. He was a completely separate personality from Terry. If they'd never met before, they'd never be aware of the other.

Then again, the more that he thought about it, the more he was less enchanted with Terry. The guy wasn't man enough to do the deed himself and created a doppelganger, Sharp, to do it for him.

They were heading back the way toward RJ's card shop when they saw him through the window of his shop watching TV. Silently, they all decided to go over and see what he was up to. They couldn't see what he was watching; his face faced out toward them. When he looked up and saw the three, he did a double take and rushed to open up the door to his shop.

"Get in here, now!" he yelled, cutting them off from greeting them. Natasha, not one to take orders from anyone, just stood stock still while Jamie obeyed and Sharp just eyed RJ curiously but took just one step forward and stopped. RJ saw the hesitation by Sharp and Natasha and pleaded with them to get inside quickly, looking up and down the fairly silent street. Sharp shrugged his shoulders and started to approach and Natasha, reluctantly, followed them in. Once they were inside, RJ quickly shut his door, locked it, then turned to Sharp.

"What the hell did you do!" he barked.

"Not a damn thing!" Sharp barked back, giving RJ a little shove to clear him away from his space.

"What is wrong with you! What kind of bullshit are you trying to get yourselves into, breaking into a museum!" RJ was yelling at them.

"What?" Jamie asked.

RJ whipped around to face the 21 year old and explained he had been watching the early news to find that there had been a robbery at the museum where six thieves made off 'with valuable museum antiquities.' Jamie could hear the TV going behind RJ. "What are you saying, man?" he pushed his way past RJ so that he could see the TV and froze. The color drained from his face and he felt his fingertips become immediately chilly and numb.

A local news reporter was reporting from the scene…

"…_where museum officials are saying nothing as to the items that were stolen. However, reports come to us stating that the museum's new exhibit, may have been targeted. Again, museum officials are not commenting on whether or not this is the case or not. We do know at this hour that a gang of robber subdued the guards, broke into the museum's store house and definitely did make off with some of the goods. Once again, police investigators on the scene were quick to find that the robbers were caught on surveillance cameras..._"

At this moment, the camera cut away from the live shot to show a few still images of the robbery as it was progressing. One that was pointing outside clearly shows an image of Jamie and Knowledge sitting in the driver and passenger seats of a white van. Another image showed three others inside the building that were recognizable as Vega, Janet and the girl that housed Re'-Sha's spirit, Kwandao Kawamura. And one final still showed a picture of a smiling Terry looking up at a camera and giving them a thumbs up.

_"And this is more breaking news at the site of the robbery; police have released the names of the thieves responsible as follows...Jamie Cantou, Catravious Collins, Kwandao Kawamura, Janet Rush, Lamar Vega and Terry Hairston. We are already familiar with the latter two as champion game players for the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. Of course, we will keep you up to minute with late breaking news-"_

Jamie silently turned off the TV, with no objections from anyone present.

"What…is going on here?" Jamie said, not speaking to anyone in particular. He looked toward Sharp, Sharp's face was twisted into a soft scowl at the dead TV screen.

"Isn't it obvious? Someone set us up!" Sharp said, the passion in his voice rising.

"All of you?" Natasha said, specifically referring to the fact that both Lamar Vega and Kwandao Kawamura were 'present' at the time as well.

"Vega isn't a thief, but Kwandao…" Sharp mulled, turning the thought over in his mind.

"I'm not a thief!" Jamie yelled.

"I just saw you on there, Jamie. Plain as day." RJ interrupted.

Jamie was about to argue but then recalled something and pointed out to RJ that he, Knowledge and Terry had all been at his shop earlier today. They were now just arriving again the second time and only a couple of hours had passed. RJ chewed on that bit of information.

"I just cannot wrap my mind around this. 5 minutes ago, I was an upstanding citizen, now I'm a wanted criminal." Jamie said sullenly.

"_We're_ wanted criminals…" Sharp muttured. He had leaned against the nearby doorjamb with this legs crossed at the ankles, thinking to himself about the situation. "Well, what we do know is that neither you nor I did _that._"

He gestured to the now black screen of the TV.

"How about the others?" Natasha asked.

Sharp reached for the cell phone that he had in his pocket, hoping that Terry had programmed Knowledge's phone number into it. "We'll find out about one of them right now."

* * *

Knowledge heard his phone chirp and reached for it out of a side pocket of his backpack. The display showed that Terry was calling. Although he wasn't in the mood to talk, he picked up.

"Hello?"

_"You're there!"_

"Where else would I be?"

_"Where are you?"_

"Downtown. Public Square actually."

A pause.

_"Knowledge, get out of sight right now."_

"Get out of sight? What are you talking about?"

"_You haven't seen the news?"_

"I've been otherwise occupied…"

_"Knowledge, you, Jamie, all of us are wanted for robbery."_

"Say what?" Knowledge spat into his phone.

_"The news had pictures of…us…all breaking into a museum and taking off with something. Knowledge, where have you been?"_

"…"

_"Knowledge?"_

"I…met up with Janet."

_"Who's Janet?"_

Knowledge was taken aback a bit by the question. Surely Terry remembered meeting Janet before the start of the final rounds of Battle City. On the other line, Sharp realized this must be someone that he had failed to meet yet He let out a breath that accompanied a low groan. He did not need this headache right now when people were going to be looking for them all.

_"Look, its best you get out of sight for now. We need to sort this out."_

Knowledge, however, had been set on edge. He was downtown, indeed, and there were a lot of eyes that passed over him. Now knowing that he is a wanted criminal, he wonders just how many of these glances are innocent and how many are looking to send him to jail. He ducked for a nearby alley that was unused by pedestrian traffic and held his phone closer to his ear.

"If you're messing with me, Terry, I swear…"

_"Hell, no, Knowledge."_

Another pause.

"All right, so what do I do? I'm not going to hide in the alleys and sewers all day."

Sharp didn't have an immediate answer. _"Just stay out of sight, stay away from the police. We'll all meet up somewhere and figure out how to deal with this."_

"Fine. I think –"

"HEY! IT'S HIM!"

Both parties froze in their tracks hearing that spill over into their ears. Knowledge, still pretty much leaning against a wall not too far into the alley he had ducked into for cover, had been found out. Three adults dressed in security guard uniforms of an official shirt but with pressed blue jeans and black shoes, were pointing at him from the entrance to the alley. A few surrounding pedestrians stopped what they were doing and peered into the alley, looking for the source of the commotion.

"Grab him!"

"Damnit!" Knowledge yelled, flipping his phone shut, and taking off down the alley away from the pursuing rent-a-cops.

* * *

"Knowledge? Knowledge!" Sharp yelled into the cell phone. He stared down at it as he silently ended the call and met the faces of Jamie, Natasha and RJ.

"I'm going after him!" Sharp exclaimed, jumping between Jamie and Natasha as he made a dash for the door. No one tried to stop him, as they all watched him exit the store and raced toward downtown.

Both RJ and Natasha turned toward Jamie.

"What do you think, RJ? You believe us when we say we're innocent?"

RJ stared into Jamie's eyes, long and hard, because his answer was going to shape how he would see the young men he had let play in his store for the longest time. Even before the Duel Disks came into play, Terry, Jamie and Knowledge had been best of friends and for all the wisecracks he might've made against them, he knew they had good hearts. But his eyes have never lied to him.

Jamie saw the struggle RJ was having with this. "Look, it's fine if-"

"Be quiet and get away from the windows." RJ instead said.

Jamie smiled, thankful to the powers above that at least they had convinced one person of their innocence. Jamie did as he was told and moved with him into his office that was in a separate room.

_I hope...I really hope that somehow, with all that I just saw on the news, that these kids are not involved in this..._RJ thought to himself as he ushered them away from prying eyes.


	7. Establishing An Identity

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

_OK, Sharp, give yourself points for doing the right thing. Then take them right back for doing the very thing you told Knowledge NOT to do; expose yourself. You idiot._

Sharp beat himself up in his head, not realizing in his haste that he could get himself caught out here as well when he was trying to get Knowledge out of whatever he was into. He had his cell phone in hand, trying to redial Knowledge as he ran between two buildings. RJ's shop was not 'very' far from Public Square but having to take side streets and stay away from big groups of people as he moved really hurt his time. And time was something that he didn't have a lot of.

"Damn…" he grunted, as he ended his call to Knowledge. He couldn't reach him. And there was no chance he'd find him at Public Square anymore. Then he overheard something going down a fairly empty one way street.

"Yeah, I heard that the police was looking for the kid, too."

Sharp stopped. The voice came from across the street from a young man on a cell phone to someone. It sounded like he knew.

"Hey, you!" Sharp called out. "Where'd they have him at?"

Irritated to be interrupted on his call, the guy looked up at Sharp and then nodded behind him and off to his right. "Up at that corner there. 'Bout a block or two over there's a couple of police cars."

Sharp changed course, but didn't break his stride. He headed back the way he came to an intersection that would go that direction but not to the corner he had said. As he ran down the street, he saw no uniformed officers and not a lot of people on the street, but when he passed the next intersection, he looked to his right and saw two police cruisers slowly going down the street toward him. They were a good ways away and he thought they couldn't see him. He hoped so, at the very least. He kept going and almost as soon as he got past the corner, he heard it.

_Twttt...tweeeet_

Faint, but undeniable. The signal his Millennium Puzzle gave off when he was close to another one. Knowledge was close.

* * *

Knowledge, concealed behind a large green recycle dumpster in an alley, also heard it and looked wildly to his left and right for Terry. He had heard that signal that let him know another item was near. While a part of him was relieved that Terry was out here looking for him, he wondered how they were going to escape.

Once he had been found out by the rent-a-cops, he ran away from them down the maze of side streets and alleys of the city, but was not able to shake them. Every time he turned a corner, the guys would be almost right behind him by no more than a few seconds. He had came into one alley rounding a corner and saw that this was the back of a storefront strip. All down this alley were solid hard plastic grey doors that led into the rear areas of the restaurants, clothing stores and offices that littered the street. But one of these was slightly ajar and closing. Knowledge shifted and made for that door, getting inside of it and shutting it quickly, making sure not to cause a lot of noise. He took a quick glance behind him and found that the hall was deserted. He didn't dwell on it. A peephole though the door, he noticed. He pressed his face to it, catching his breath, and saw that the two pursuing cops had turned the corner and were running down the street as if they were pursuing him still. Through the door he could actually faintly hear their footsteps as they went down the alley. He cracked the door and peered out of it.

The cops had stopped. They were on their radios standing in the middle of the alley with their backs to him. About 10 yards away, they were talking to their dispatcher because they had lost him. Knowledge cursed his luck. He had hoped they would go further before they decided they'd lost him. He'd have to take the chance and slip away while they were occupied. He pulled a wedge from the floor behind him used to hold the door open to the outside and set it against the door frame. He slipped outside again and got around the door and started to creep toward the corner, maybe a good 4 to 5 yards away from him. Like he expected, the door hit the wedge and just stood there instead of closing and making noise as the door closed. He crept forward, silent as he could be, reached the corner and made the turn to come back the way he had come. He took a few steps and an involuntary shiver ran down his whole body, head to toe. He was still short on breath from running and had to get away from here quickly. His ears perked up as he heard shoes clicking. And coming closer. _The cops were heading back this way_!

Knowledge looked around, desperately but noticed a green recycle dumpster that had been placed against the wall but the wall had a small doorway in it that had been walled off by bricks. The dumpster stood a good 7 feet up off the ground. He decided to make for it and slipped behind it, wedging himself into the doorway and hiding.

It was right then that he heard the buzzing in his ear.

As he was looking down and up the alley to see if he could see Terry, he noticed that one of the cops had come down his alley and was walking by a brisk pace. He held his breath, hearing his heart thump in his ears and waited for him to pass. And as the cop got closer, the buzzing increased slightly as well.

* * *

Sharp had slowed to a sort of power walk pace as he went through the streets. He felt that he was getting closer and he didn't want to backtrack. Get Knowledge and get out; that was the plan. He had come to an intersection where he noticed a uniformed cop walking away from him. He ducked back and flattened himself against the wall, peering around the corner. The man was inspecting the alley. He could be some guy that just watches the building for riffraff and hoods, but he didn't want to take any dumb chances. But he did notice that as he peered down this particular alley, he felt that he was closer than ever to Knowledge. He eyed the green dumpster conspicuously.

* * *

Knowledge couldn't see the far corner from his hiding place, but he felt that Terry was very close now. He wished for a way to communicate with him and felt in his pocket for his cell phone. Did he dare to try?

He looked down the street the other way but could no longer see the cop but still heard footsteps. He guessed that he hadn't gone far down enough for him to see at his angle.

He couldn't stand it anymore, he reached for his cell phone and though he thought about dialing, he thought of a better solution.

* * *

Sharp continued to watch the guard. He had pulled out a radio and was speaking into it. He couldn't hear the man's voice and only pieces of the other's reply to the cop. Suddenly he felt his cell phone vibrate. He pulled back from the corner and reached for his phone.

_A text message from Knowledge!_ Sharp said to himself.

"Hiding in alley behind dumpster. Where are you?" the message stated. Sharp replaced his phone into his pocket and turned to peer back into the alley again. The guard was heading slowly toward the end of the alley. _So Knowledge is hiding there..._

He looked forward toward the guard. There was another dumpster maybe a few feet away from where he was and Sharp got a good idea. He focused himself and stared at the black, plastic tops that covered the tops of the dumpsters. He inhaled and exhaled a slow breath. The Eye of Anubis softly glowed on his forehead and he watched as he made the top of that dumpster flutter just a little bit.

The guard hadn't noticed.

He raised it up about an inch and slammed it back down.

Immediately, the guard turned and lifted the lid, inspecting the contents. Sharp made his move. He dashed forward toward the green dumpster and peered behind it. He could just make out the shape of a young man that was looking down the alley at the guard himself.

"Knowledge!" Sharp whispered fiercely.

Knowledge jumped and turned to face the voice.

"Terry!" he whispered back.

"No time! Let's go!" Sharp instructed.

Knowledge took one more look back at the cop, he was still inspecting the inside of the dumpster. He crept from behind his hiding place and he and Terry crept along the wall toward the corner, keeping the dumpster between them and the sightline of the guard for cover. They rounded the corner toward the street Knowledge had hid inside the doorway of a store and started to run.

"What's going on?" Knowledge asked as they ran.

"I have no idea." Sharp said, his face grim. "That RJ guy hauled me, Natasha and Jamie into his store and we all saw pictures of us robbing a museum on the news. The whole city probably has seen our faces."

"But we didn't do it!" he pressed.

"Yeah, try telling that to everyone else…" Sharp replied, rolling his eyes.

They had come to the end of the alley they were traversing and poured out onto a divided two lane street. Traffic was going back and forth in cars but there were few people on the streets. It was getting late in the day and most of the bankers and accountants and cubicle working folks that you would see were well on their way home.

"We need to get back to RJ's shop." Sharp pointed out, looking down the street. As he turned to look at Knowledge, he was slightly surprised to see him inspecting his face closely. The two of them said nothing for a few seconds until Knowledge spoke.

"It's you, isn't it? The one that I had met before after you beat Re'-Sha." He said evenly.

"My name…is Sharp." He replied. "And right now, we don't have the time to exchange pleasantries. We gotta get out of sight."

"Sharp, huh?" Knowledge replied. The two of them started walking away. Both had been running for far longer than either was used to but walked fast and kept their heads lowered. They didn't dare to take a bus or a cab back to RJ's shop so they continued to walk toward their destination.

* * *

Janet Rush was floored. She had just seen herself rob a museum and was now a wanted criminal, along with Catravious, Terry, Vega, Jamie and Kwandao.

She was watching a news report from the window of a TV retailer that happened to be tuned into the evening news. Reports were coming in, as she understood, that the six of them had robbed the Millstone Museum and were wanted, but now that newscast was interrupted by another woman.

_"We have this breaking news to report. Police have now released the names of the thieves responsible for the robbery at the Millstone Museum earlier today."_

The screen switched from a live shot of the newscaster talking to six individual pictures of each one of them, taken from the security cameras around the rear docking area of the museum.

_"21 year old Jamie Cantou, 17 year old Catravious Collins, 17 year old Janet Rush and 18 year old Kwandao Kawamura, a native Japanese-Thai student in the US are suspected for the robbery. Also involved in the grandiose theft are 18 year old Lamar Trenton Vega, a young man many may know from his days spent as a duelist in various private and invitational Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments, as well as his appearance in the previous Battle City tournament. The final involved party is 17 year old Terry Hairston, the winner of the aforementioned Battle City tournament. All six share a connection in that they were all the finalists to that Yu-Gi-Oh! card game tournament. Police are seeking these young men and women..."_

Janet had heard enough and quickly walked away from the storefront. Her mind was very clear about what she had just witnessed. She'd been set up.

As she walked, she looked down at her tightly closed fist. Someone had set her up and there would be consequences and repercussions for it. She settled that matter rather quickly, but then had to think about how to do it. The very first thought that came to her was to seek out Catravious, Jamie and Terry. But she squashed that idea.

_Whoever did this got us all in the same boat. They might even have been detained by now. No, whoever is trying to throw dirt in my face with this crock, I want the first shot at them._

She did realize that she needed to get out of sight though. People now knew her face, and people these days wouldn't hesitate to snitch.

* * *

Outside a small, private estate in the west area of Millstone City, a slim figure darted through the mid-evening light toward the small patch of woods behind the manor. In the front of it, a trio of police cars were lined up and they had entered the house looking for someone in particular. They wouldn't find them. Their target had seen the newscasts and they were too slow to reach them in time to surprise them.

But as Kwandao Kawamura fled from her supposed home, two thoughts kept crossing her mind. Why was this happening to her again? She had just gotten back to living a normal life not even days after the end of the Battle City tournament. Terry, or rather the person standing in Terry's body, had helped her so much and now she was back on the run. All she had wanted was to be normal.

And the other thought, was that she needed to find Terry Hairston. Fast.

* * *

"What is it?" Vega was slightly bowing his head and asking for her help. What he didn't expect to hear was the whir and click of a Duel Disk. When his ears recognized the sound, he first glanced at his. It hadn't activated, but when he looked up, he saw that Suzuku was the one who had activated one of her own. The exact same style as his own with her deck that she kept in that jewelry box already fitted into the holder. She stood up straight staring up slightly at Vega with her Duel Disk on her arm.

"If you want to know, you'll have to beat me." Suzuku said, her smile gone and her expression becoming slightly cold and increasingly serious.

"Beat you?" Vega said incrediously, with a single thought gnawing at his mind.

Suzuku started walking out her door and back onto the steps to her front door as Vega followed. She pulled down a fire ladder that was above her door that led up the side of the building to the rooftop.

"Beat me, and I will share with you a way for you to best what's getting at you. That is what you came here for isn't it? So decide right now whether or not you're going to do this."

She left Vega with that thought and started climbing the ladder. Vega stood, watching her climb, letting another sentence hang in the air.

"Remember, Lamar. 'Great souls have wills; feeble ones…only have wishes.'"

Lamar knew without a shade of doubt which kind of soul he possessed. Only one thing unnerved him. In the entire time he had known, lived and trained with Marcia Suzuku, he had never beaten her.

Vega, not wanting to look weak but still intimidated, reached with his right hand toward the fire ladder, but paused immediately and dashed back into Suzuku's aparment. Suzuku, above, heard him and curiousity gathered within her. She hopped over the top of the building and straddled the ends of the ladder with the insides of her palms and the edges of her shoes. With this, she slid down the ladder with ease, as she had done many times before. She casually walked back into her apartment, closing the door behind her. She saw Lamar standing before her TV, watching CNN. She was surprised that she could see Lamar on TV as well.

Vega watched with curiosity and was confused. They were speaking in Japanese and he couldn't follow the conversation. He did see a pretty blurry picture of himself, then a picture of the back of some building with a lot of police officers. They talked some more and then a set of six pictures came up that showed him along with Terry, Kwandao and even Knowledge, Jamie and Janet.

Vega heard Suzuku speaking behind him in Japanese, all he could understand out of it was "Gensou" and "Kiken". Something like "trick" and "dangerous".

"Suzuku-san…" he pointed to the TV. "What are they saying about me and them?"

Suzuku picked up the remote control to her DVD player, which also had a DVR function on it and proceeded to rewind the newscast to the beginning. As she watched, she gave Vega summaries of what they were saying.

"They say you did bad things today….steal something in museum….police want to catch you….all others you see did bad, too…Have not caught anyone yet….want people if they see you to call police." At this, she stopped the newscast and turned Vega to face her, holding him firmly by his shoulders.

"What is this?" she demanded, her eyes becoming cloudy and misty.

Vega stared down at her and couldn't give an answer. "I have no idea, Suzuku-san."

"They say you take something important."

"Suzuku-san, I haven't done anything!"

Suzuku looked up into Lamar's eyes. Searching.

"Ah, I know you did nothing." She said, releasing him. She moved to sit on the couch again. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she inhaled a long breath. Closing her eyes, she let it out slowly through pursed lips, trying to expel the tension her body was amassing.

"I know you did nothing. Not possible for you to steal then come see me in same day. No, just not possible for you at all. You not a thief. I know this for sure, Lamar."

Vega smiled, touched that she knew he didn't steal and that she believed in him with such a passion. He sat in the recliner and just put his hand to his temple, the weight of the situation now starting to bring him down. Nothing was said between Vega and Suzuku, though he preferred it that way right now. Out of nowhere, he had become a fugitive. Just right out of the blue.

Right now, what he needed was a calm mind. He pushed his emotions aside and tried to focus. Unfortunately, he had too little information to focus in on. All he knew was that 'he' had committed a robbery, made off with some probably priceless treasures, and that the police were now looking for 'him'. He hadn't told anyone about his coming to Japan, as it wasn't their business. He should be safe in the sense that he could move around Japan freely. He did wonder how Terry was and what he was doing. Being the boy scout he was, he probably turned himself in. Rely on the so called blind justice system to hear him out, admit they have the wrong guy then let him go. Going to the police wasn't an option for Vega. Someone had set him up, he wanted to know why. He wanted to know who. And he wanted to know as soon as possible. Just where to start…

* * *

"The mission was successful, Rina?"

"Yes, Savior."

"Good. Then we have recovered the Dragon Bones."

"Yes. They are on the way."

"There were no mistakes, correct."

"No."

"Good."

"May I ask a question, Savior?"

"…you may."

"Why them? Why these six?"

"Well, do you know why this one was chosen?"

"Yes."

"I don't think you do, Rina."

"Hmm?"

"No, it isn't because of the Millennium Puzzle he possesses. The Millennium Puzzle might be key, but it isn't the reason I chose him. Or the girl with the Millennium Ring, either."

"Then why?"

"Because he is the most visible of all these 'duelists.' To tear down a pillar is to cripple the structure."

"And that is why you chose him as well?"

"The golden haired one? Yes. In Japan and America, he is well known as the 'King of Games'."

"But why the others? What do they-"

"They all fit into a larger puzzle to cripple the pillar. Have patience. Watch what happens next. In time, they will all fall, like they always have, and peace will fall upon everyone again."

"At their expense…"

"…you seem…worried for these people, Rina."

"Is it wrong to worry about a fellow man?"

"…No. I suppose not. Though you would be wise to not let that be known. Others might mistake it for…disloyalty."

* * *

Knowledge and Sharp nonchalantly walked into the obviously closed card shop that RJ owned and exhaled simultaneous sighs of relief. They had managed to get back here without incident or anymore people spotting them from news pictures. They walked into the main card shop room from the small hallway and noticed a small bit of light coming from the crack of a doorway. RJ's private office. They wandered over.

The office was about the size of a large cubicle of a standard office with no windows. In this room, RJ had set up two long tables against the far wall opposite the doorway and on the right hand wall. A small laptop and an older looking desktop computer were situated there. A printer and scanner were also next to the old desktop. Various papers were scattered around the sides of the computer. On the left hand wall, a large corkboard that nearly took up the entire space had been posted with different invoices, notes and order sheets hanging for RJ. In the office, Jamie and Natasha had taken seats in front of the separate computers. Jamie monitoring the desktop and Natasha on the laptop. RJ was nowhere to be seen.

"You made it." Jamie said tonelessly over his shoulder at Knowledge. Knowledge screwed up his face at him.

"Nice to see you too."

"And you're back too. Feh." Jamie said of Sharp.

Sharp held his tongue.

"Where's RJ?" Knowledge asked.

"He ran out to get some pizza and soda." Natasha said, but not turning to look at Knowledge. "Seeing as how I've got a trio of fugitives on my hands."

"So you're not playing with me? This is for real?" Knowledge asked no one in particular. Everyone was silent. That answer made him groan and he leaned against the doorjamb to collect his thoughts.

"Well, the one nice thing is that it doesn't seem like they were looking for you earlier, Knowledge." Natasha said, pulling the laptop into her lap and wheeling her chair past Jamie and toward Knowledge. He leaned down to look at the screen and noticed the large bold print of a headline on the page.

"'Thief robs clothing store, makes off with 40.00 dollars?'" he read aloud.

"Yeah," she said, turning the screen so she could see. She summarized that a guy had robbed a store near to where he was at. As he was making his way out of the place to escape, he dropped the money that he had pilfered. He had escaped the security guards that had chased him into the alleys but after the owner collected the remaining money, it was found out that he only got away with a little under forty dollars.

"Whew…" Knowledge exhaled. "Some good news…"

"Not enough good news, actually." Jamie said under his breath, silently browsing a news site for more information about the museum theft.

"We gotta take what we can in a situation like this." Sharp pointed out, leaning over Natasha's chair to read what he could of the story about the other robbery that seemingly mistook Knowledge for the culprit.

"So what do we do now?" asked Knowledge.

Sharp stood up straight and turned to him. "Find the people responsible and bring them some pain. Then, maybe, give what's left to the police. And get righteous again."

"Wishful thinking, man." Jamie said sarcastically.

Sharp turned and raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't press further.

"Wait, you want to go after these guys?" Knowledge looked around the room at his comrades. "Is that what we're thinking?"

"Aren't you?" asked Sharp.

Knowledge didn't respond.

"Someone drags my name through the mud, I definitely want-"

"Pssh! YOUR name?" Jamie cut in.

Sharp exhaled a long breath slowly. "Meaning?"

"You've got nothing to do with this, pal. This is a problem for real people, not a figment of the imagination."

"Aw, hell no…" Sharp growled. He tried to restrain himself further, but he had been pushed past his very short limit of patience with Jamie. He turned and grabbed Jamie roughly by the collar and yanked him up to his level.

"I'll put a 'figment' of my fist through your teeth!" Sharp yelled.

Jamie grabbed Sharp's hands to steady himself, got his footing and stood his ground a few inches over Sharp's head. "Am I wrong? Look at you! Nothing but a cheap trick of that damn Millennium Puzzle! You have no real life, no real consequences to your decisions. WE, us, not you, have to live with…whatever comes of this situation. Oh no, but not you! When the time comes, all that's going to happen is that you'll disappear, Terry will come back and you'll wash you hands of the whole thing! Set everything on his shoulders. Anything you do wrong will be the responsibility of others, like us!"

Sharp let out a noise somewhere between a growl and a roar from his throat. Rage made his hands shake for just a second on Jamie's collar. He shifted and literally tossed Jamie though the office door into the main floor of the store. Jamie didn't fall, he stumbled and quickly regained his footing.

Sharp lunged for Jamie and just as he was about to get almost halfway there…

"STOP!"

Sharp stopped dead in his tracks and looked back behind him. Natasha and Knowledge were standing in the doorway looking at him with looks of concern. He turned to look at Jamie that was staring coldly at him. It didn't seem that any of them had said it. But the voice sounded faintly familiar. It had the intended effect, however. Sharp stood still in the middle of the floor and stared down at the carpet. He inhaled a long breath through his nose, and then exhaled it slowly through pursed lips. He stepped closer to Jamie.

"Jamie, you don't know anything about me."

"I know enough."

"What you know ain't much, man."

"Enlighten me."

At that, Sharp turned away quickly. _If I enlighten you, you'd be getting ready to meet Jesus well before your time..._

"I'm going to sleep." He said instead, but he was heading for the door.

"Sharp, wait." Natasha called out, but Sharp didn't heed her. He stepped out into the fading light and was gone.

"What did you do that for?" Natasha immediately said to Jamie. He just looked at her incredulously. "That's cold-hearted to say he's nothing but a figment of the imagination!"

"Am I wrong? All I said was the truth!"

"The truth?" Natasha laughed, "What a crock!"

"What?"

"Look around you, Jamie! Who do you see? You see me, you see Knowledge. And you know what? We will stand behind you, and I expect you'll stand behind Knowledge too in a time like this." Natasha said, throwing her arms toward Knowledge and herself.

"Absolutely." Jamie said without a moment's hesitation

Natasha stepped forward and pressed her finger roughly into Jamie's temple. "Then use your head! Why are you trying to cut off help that you need? You won't get many more people that'll stand in your corner at a time like this. You need ALL the help you can get."

Jamie glared hard at Natasha. She matched the glare and just posed one question for him. "Why don't you tell me that I'm not telling _you_ the truth right now?"

* * *

A couple of hours later, after leaving Knowledge and Jamie to go out on her own to search for Sharp, she returned to the card shop well after dusk. Street lamps were on and the city had been well on its way to being tucked in for the night. She had found no sign of Sharp through the city. She was coming across the street when she saw, of all people, Sharp standing right outside the door of the shop. She approached him.

"Why don't you come in, Sharp?" she asked.

He didn't say anything. He just continued to look at the door

"Look, Sharp. I don't like what my brother said about-"

That got his attention. "Your brother?"

"Yeah, I told you after-" then she stopped short. "No, I think I told Terry actually."

Realization shone in the green eyes of Sharp. He just nodded and looked toward the door again.

"Are you ok?" she asked after a few moments.

"Don't worry about me." he said quickly.

Natasha turned and leaned against the door of the store, putting herself right into Sharp's sightline. He looked away.

"I want to tell you a little story, Sharp. About me and Jamie." Sharp didn't say anything, but she continued anyway.

"Jamie and I aren't blood brother and sister. Were step-brother and step-sister. But we've known each other since we were little. Both of us were single children. For a long time, for years, we never treated each other much like a brother and sister. More like people that we just expected to find at our home day after day. Sure, we were friendly and talked sometimes, but we were never close. Even our friends were kinda separate. Him and his would play their video games and stuff, me and mine would talk about any and everything."

"Then, one day, I went to his room to look for him. He wasn't there. As I was about to leave, I saw some strange cards laying on his dresser by the door. Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. And they just looked so cool to me. But that's when he came and found me in his room…"

* * *

"What are you doing in there?" Jamie said in an upset tone.

Natasha nearly jumped out of her skin, which caused her to let the cards she had been cradling in her hands to scatter and fall to the ground around her feet. She bent down to retrieve them, apologizing as she did.

"What are you doing with my cards?" he demanded.

Natasha blushed meekly, explaining that she was looking for him the cards caught her eye when she was about to leave.

"I just saw them there and was just looking at them…they looked kinda cool."

Natasha could swear she saw her step-brother smile out the corner of his mouth for the briefest second. But if it was there, it disappeared when he stepped forward and snatched his cards from her.

"'Cool' she says…" he mumbled. But he didn't say anything else. Instead he stood there looking down at the cards, then up at her, then at his cards again. At last, he made way past her into his room and shut his door.

* * *

"So he was a dick even as a kid, eh?" Sharp said, sarcastically.

Natasha smiled, recalling her memories. "Maybe just a bit. I always thought he was just really shy on the inside. But it was because of that moment…"

* * *

Over time, Natasha had began to find card shops of her own that sold Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Obviously, she got the looks from the nerds that hung around the stores. They'd never believe a girl was actually buying something they were playing.

But she could never get a grasp on the game. A lot of the rules she read, they just didn't make sense to her.

One day, she was in her own room with her cards. She had unrolled one of the little play mats that came with starter decks and she was playing through a game in her head. She had flipped a card on her field face-down but in attack position. She hadn't noticed as she was thinking, absent-mindedly about the next cards she wanted to find, when she felt that she wasn't alone in her room anymore. She turned and saw that Jamie was standing over her with his hands in his pockets. She saw him bend down and reach for that card.

"Face down monsters always have to be set horizontally, not vertically." He simply said, a sort of null expression on his face. The look of someone pointing out a simple fact in a simple manner.

* * *

"And from then on, every now and then, he would tell me a little bit about how to play the game, deck construction, game strategies, sportsmanship…It's really how we began to become more like siblings than, well, whatever we were before. So we started to play against each other. A little at first, then more and more. I really think it was through those duels that I got to know Jamie to the point I know him now. There's still more I wanna know, but this is far and away more than I knew about him years ago."

Sharp had been pretty silent up to that point, listening into the story. "You're basically saying it takes him awhile to warm up to people?"

Natasha sighed deeply, a look of exhaustion passing over her face. Her body dipped slightly. "I'd say normally yes. But, you're hardly normal. We'd all admit to that."

"True." he admitted grudgingly.

"I just think that considering what you're up against, none of you can afford to lose each other. You can only really rely on each other at a time like this." Sharp nodded silently, the more that he listened to her the more sense that she made and the less and less anger he felt toward Jamie.

"So what happens now, Sharp?" she asked.

Without hesitation, he said, "Starting tomorrow… we all start hunting for some pretenders." And with that, he walked into the store, walking briskly through the store to reach the office door. He pulled it open and found Jamie still watching the monitor. Knowledge had fallen asleep on top of his crossed arms on the desk. Jamie just kept on reading. He must've seen him and heard him enter.

"I'm not totally sure what you're problem is with me, Jamie." He started. Natasha had walked into the store and was waiting behind him. "But like it or not, you're all I've got. And I'm all you got. We're all on the same side. We'll have to deal with it if we want to survive."

Jamie didn't say anything for a second. Then he reached up and switched off the monitor to the PC, leaving the tower running. He stood and stretched, acting completely oblivious to Sharp, which was irritating him anew. After briefly cracking his knuckles, he stepped over to the side and shook Knowledge awake before walking past Sharp into the main room. Sharp kept looking forward into the office while Jamie stopped just behind him. Jamie was facing out into the store, but he didn't turn to look at Sharp either.

"We agree on one thing, Sharp…We are on the same side. Just not on the same team."

Neither of them were looking at each other, but Sharp managed to crack a small smirk. The first emotion directed at Jamie that wasn't anger.

It's a start.


	8. Janet Seeks the Truth

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

THE NEXT MORNING – DAY 2

RJ had given permission to the three of them to stay at his card shop overnight. His shop was closed the next day and despite the kindness and faith he showed in their plight, it was obvious to all of them that he wasn't prepared to go much farther for them. Sanctuary was about all they would be afforded from him, and for now, that was more than enough.

It was Knowledge that had awakened Sharp the next morning, nudging him awake.

"Hey, wake up, you." He said softly, nudging him. Sharp had somehow managed to sleep with himself propped against a wall with his book bag draped in his lap. Sharp groaned, and cracked one eye to look at Knowledge.

"What is it?" he asked.

_It's still Sharp, not Terry._ Knowledge thought to himself. "Give me your cell phone." He commanded, holding out his hand. He looked far too awake for Sharp's taste and he asked why. Concerned wrinkled Knowledge's face.

"I learned that, well, that the police visited my house yesterday. Looking for me. And since yesterday, everyone that I know has been trying to call me about where I am. I never answered the phone but…"

Sharp was alert now. He reached to his side, pulling free Terry's cell phone and saw that, indeed, there were a few missed calls for him as well. Going out looking for Knowledge yesterday, he had forgotten he turned it to silent.

"What are you thinking?" Sharp asked.

"I'm thinking that the police might try to trace the calls if we picked up."

"That's kinda paranoid." Sharp said, screwing up his face.

"Not really, that's smart detective work." Jamie chipped in. Sharp looked past Knowledge to see Jamie peering out through the windows of the shop to look at the morning traffic and passersby. Resolving not to get into it so early in the morning, he handed over his cell phone, but was the first to ask how they intended to communicate.

"We'll work something out." Jamie said. Not really a solution but just something to fill the air.

* * *

"Savior, I have something you might be interested in…"

"And that is?"

"I've found one of these kids."

"Who? Which one?"

"He is in Japan, their so-called 'King of Games' Lamar Vega."

"Hmm…I wonder why he is so far away from his own country."

"Savior, I think this is an opportunity we can't pass on. We have the Dragon Bones, but while we won't kill him, we should keep him out of our business."

"How do you mean?"

"…I don't think he's just sitting on his hands. He may be trying to uncover something to clear himself."

"He will find nothing."

"Even if that's the case, we shouldn't waste this opportunity."

"Hmm…. There may be other things we can use him for. Dispatch one of your rapiers to collect him."

"Of course –"

"Actually, on second thought…I'll go. Dispatch one of your rapiers to research him. I want all information available about him."

The man grinned. "I haven't been hunting in a long time."

* * *

Janet was awake and refreshed after spending the night in, of all places, a tree. Suspicion settled onto her conscious after learning she was wanted so she found, after more than her fair share of wandering, a tree house in the yard of some family. Thankfully, the summer night air was not too cool and she slept comfortably, considering the circumstances. She knew she couldn't show up at the places she normally frequented. A women's bathroom in a public park and a corner store provided her with a 'meal' and a place to freshen up. Now she was out, and she was standing about a block away from her destination.

She was definitely a standout in her outfit of casual clothes among all the suits, ties, vests and dress shirts of the people that littered the streets at this morning hour but she seemed to not be noticed. She had, however, taken the other sleeve off of her small jacket, turning it into a vest that stopped just below her bust. From her perch, she had a view of the rear loading dock of the Millstone Museum which 'she' had robbed yesterday afternoon. But unfortunately for her, there were still two police cars parked outside of it. She didn't see the officers in the cars but she didn't see them from her vantage point either. She could see almost the whole yard and they weren't in sight.

Her plan had been simple to begin with. Get into that yard and find anything she could use to prove she didn't do it. It was only here and now that she realized she didn't know what exactly to look for and how to go about finding it.

She crossed her arms, thinking to herself. She had hidden her Duel Disk away, which made her a little more able to blend in without the device on her arm. She just felt naked without it on her arm.

_The police might've taken whatever kind of useful things were there to begin with after they got away. More than likely, there's nothing there but a chance for them to catch me...But this is all I've got to go on right now. And speaking of right now..._

She watched at three uniformed officers came from the rear of the building conversing among themselves. They opened the gate, escorted themselves to their cars and drove away. The opportunity was now and Janet immediately made her way from her perch and started to walk toward the loading dock. First off, she walked across the street from it, inspecting it. There was a guard tower there that was adjacent to the entrance. Only one car, a Lincoln, was parked in the enclosed area. Aside from those things and the loading dock itself, it was just an empty yard. She didn't see anyone else but did notice two cameras posted on the outside. One on top of the guard tower and one overhanging the loading dock area. The guard tower one pointed to the main entrance; the one over the loading dock overlooked a good portion of the yard, she supposed. They were motorized and swung from left to right fairly slowly. After watching them for a moment, she formulated her plan of attack and just waited for the street to clear a bit before making her move. As she waited, she walked back the way she had come so that she was closer to the guard tower.

She saw the streets clear for a second. No one coming or going on her left or right. _A miracle in itself, with everyone going to work now._ She thought. She ran full speed toward the fence, leapt and grabbed hold of it, already nearly halfway up it already. Nimbly, she scampered up the remaining part of it, brought herself over the top of it. She touched the ground, slipped around the side of the guard tower, keeping herself flat to stay out of the line of sight of the surveillance camera. She reached the doorway and slipped inside. A quick view through the window that faced into the yard confirmed that the overhanging camera was still pointed away from her, toward the other side of the yard. However, she wasn't sure if the camera could see into the tower once it swung around so she crouched down to avoid being seen.

With that part of her 'infiltration' done, she took a look around the guard tower. _More like guard hut, _she thought. A tiny 5x5 room with a single stool, a small camera monitor with a computer and printer wired to it and a portable TV inside of it. There was a corkboard with a set of keys attached to it along with some random memos posted on the wall.

She looked up at the camera monitor. The screen had been split up into four different views of the yard. One showed the view outside her hut, another the yard. The other two showed views of a storage area, she guessed. Boxes and pallets and crates littered the area and it seemed fairly organized. In the corner of one of the views she could see two garage doors. These views did not turn and pan left and right like the ones outside.

_These two screens must be showing the inside of that loading dock where they keep some of their stuff. That ought to be where I head next._

A small, white object she'd liken to a video game controller drew her attention next. It was wedged in between the computer's monitor and the monitor that showed the security camera views. She snagged it from the desk and sat back down on her haunches to inspect it. A large white and fairly heavy pad. In its upper left hand corner was a black joystick. Below it were a pair of buttons, each inscribed with a '+' and '-' sign. Below that, two more buttons with the words 'auto' and 'manual' next to them. On the other side of the controller, four extra large buttons were in the corner, along with a bunch of buttons that looked more like the type you'd find on VCR's and DVD players. Play, pause, fast-forward, rewind, eject, volume, and so on.

_A controller...maybe for the cameras?_

She backed up until she was against the wall and could see the upper portion of the security monitor. This showed one view of the inside of the loading dock and one view pointing toward the yard. She wiggled the joystick to the left slightly. She noticed that the camera inside the loading dock started to pan left slightly.

_So the joystick controls the cameras, and these plus and minus signs must be zoom functions. But what's this auto and manual?_

She pressed the 'auto' button. Nothing seemed to happen. She peeked her head a little higher to see the other two views and saw that they didn't seem to have changed at all either. But she took another glance at the other view inside, the one she couldn't see initially. It was now moving.

_Auto controls the cameras too. Maybe to let them swing automatically so they cover more area. If that's the case..._

She had an idea, but wanted to hold off on it for a little while longer. She looked to the other side of the controller, specifically at the playback buttons. She pressed the 'play' button. Immediately, the view on the computer monitor changed. It had been just a simple blue screen for Windows. Now, a window popped up showing the same four views, but this time, there were people in it. Six people to be exact, playing on the moment that they had removed their masks to show their faces.

_Bingo!_

* * *

Jamie, Sharp and Knowledge all converged in the small office RJ had. Each of them munching on pizza that had been leftover from last night. Some time during the night, Natasha left them, promising to return tomorrow sometime. Now the trio were doing what they could, scouring the internet for information on the robbery. There wasn't much there that they hadn't seen yesterday and all were in agreement that they might not find out anything new until the morning news came on, which would be in about 10 minutes. The small portable TV droned on with some dribble, an old Perry Mason show.

"This isn't getting us anywhere…" Knowledge whined, after looking over his 5th news website for anything they could use. He took another bite of his pizza.

"It's better than waiting for the news." Jamie said, himself looking over news sites and also some of their forums. "It's a distraction, and right now, I guess we could all use one."

The three agreed silently, events from last night playing through their heads. They had never argued that badly before.

"Hey Knowledge. Yesterday, what happened to you?" Jamie asked.

Knowledge looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"No, I mean, before we got caught up in all of this. You just dipped out on us."

Knowledge then realized what he was talking about and dipped his head down to look at the ground. Sharp and Jamie noticed, but didn't press him.

"I went to meet with Janet." He said.

"Janet?" Jamie said, surprised.

"You said that yesterday. Who is she?" Sharp interrupted, recalling the phone call he made to Knowledge yesterday before going to search for him.

Knowledge gave Sharp a quick history of his association with Janet. How he met her, her connection to Natasha Chapel and Clan Prime, going to the Battle City quarter-finals and losing against Re'-Sha, including the subsequent punishment by Re'-Sha.

"I see." Sharp said, rubbing his chin.

"But what did you two do?" Jamie asked.

"She had called me, saying she wanted to meet. She said there's no way she'd consider going back to the way she was." He clenched his fists tightly and pounded them into the sides of his head one time. "AFTER she destroyed me in a duel."

"Janet beat you?" Jamie said incredulously. He knew that in Battle City, Janet was one of the duelists Knowledge had managed to defeat. He didn't think she could beat him with her Last Warrior Deck.

"Wow…" was all Jamie said. "Last Warrior did –"

Knowledge interrupted, "It wasn't Last Warrior. She had a new deck, a Zerg Deck."

"A _Zerg _Deck?" Sharp said, which was new to him.

"What kind of monsters does it run?" asked Jamie.

Suddenly, Knowledge turned away, now interested in his search again, saying what they were talking about isn't really helping or is a 'useful' distraction.

"Knowledge, man, I'm sorry about that." Jamie said, realizing where he was going.

"Well, don't be. I never ask for you to mope over my shortcomings and baby me, Jamie." Knowledge snapped over his shoulder.

Jamie was about to speak again, but he saw Sharp out the corner of his eye shaking his head no, as if telling Jamie to leave it alone. Jamie insultingly scoffed, "Didn't ask YOUR opinion, Sharp." With that, he turned back to his own computer.

They all, however, turned toward the TV once they heard the familiar jingle of the news' opening credits. It seemed they wouldn't have to wait long to see if there was new information.

_Good morning, our top story at this hour, city officials are still searching for the young men and women responsible for a daring daylight robbery of the Millstone City Museum yesterday afternoon. With more, we go to our correspondent Ronnie Brown in the newsroom, Ronnie?_

The camera cut to a young, short haired black man in a solid light blue shirt and dark blue tie. Poised and fluent in his speech as he spoke to the camera.

_Thank you, Jessica. Police still haven't turned up any signs of the suspects from yesterday's museum theft and now they're turning to you...for help._

They cut away from Ronnie to show a prerecorded clip.

_"It just doesn't seem like them." _A young man was saying to a microphone. Several shots of the museum were overlaid the voice of Ronnie Brown as he narrated.

_This was the scene yesterday as six young men and women, all duelists from the city's recent Upperdeck sponsored 'Battle City' tournament. A city-wide event that invited duelists of all ages to participate in playing the popular trading card game, Yu-Gi-Oh! which itself is partly based off comic books and television. But the motivations of these six..._

The camera cuts to the same picture that shows the six of them with their names under each of their photos.

_still has friends and others, stunned. Even disbelieving._

_"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe you. Those kids just enjoyed playing together and now..."_

Knowledge and Jamie immediately recognized her as one of the members of Natasha's clan.

A older woman of asian descent was speaking next through the use of a translator. Everyone wondered who she was until the caption below showed she was a dean of a school that Kwandao Kawamura went to.

_"She was a brilliant student, if not just reserved and shy. She would never commit a crime like this, it's just dishonorable."_

_But some believed it was only a matter of time until these kids, whom are exposed to daily doses of violence, mysticism and the occult, would turn the game to reality._

_"I played against one of them, not even a few days ago, and after they I lost, they tried to beat me up! I wouldn't put it past them to try something like that!"_

Knowledge, Jamie and even Sharp recognized this voice and the face. They had gotten ahold of Michael Xavier. And he had managed to burn them, badly. A murmur of 'Bastard' went up in the office.

_Not much is known about Janet Rush and Kwandao Kawamura, the two women involved in the break-in. Phone calls left with the parents of both teenagers and they themselves went unanswered. _

_The conclusion of the tournament made it known that at least some of these suspects frequented this card shop here. _

All three of them had their hearts stop for just a brief second as news footage showed the outside of RJ's card shop.

_The owner, refusing to be interviewed, instead issued this statement. "I know what the security cameras show, I know what the police are saying. But until I hear the admission of guilt directly from them, I will adhere to the principal that governs the law; innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."_

_The seeming ringleader, Terry Hairston, seen here, was the champion of that Battle City tournament, besting local favorite Lamar Vega, seen here, a renowned duelist that has won three Duel King Tournaments and has played in both the US and Japan. People have tended to nickname him the "King of Games" after the lead character in the serialized comic book. Phone calls to Terry Hairston also went unanswered. Lamar Vega was unable to be reached, although some report that he may have fled the country._

The camera cut back to Ronnie Brown back in his news room.

_"Jessica, though the cooperation of that tournament's sponsor, Upperdeck, we were able to obtain contact information for all the suspects, as well as the police. But as we reported before, nothing. It is fair to say that this recent robbery has many people talking, especially duelists. More than a few other duelists that we interviewed yesterday were absolutely livid at the fact that just because these people were duelists should not make a difference in the investigation. They contend that just because a person drives a car doesn't make them an automatic speeder. Jessica?"_

_"Alright, thank you for that, Ronnie."_

The mood in the office was decidedly sober after that report. All of them shared similar thoughts. They were happy that RJ, even against the public, had stood up for them. And even others that barely seemed to know them were unbelieving that they had committed this crime. But then there were people like Michael Xavier that just sent the wholly wrong message. The fact that Sharp had gotten physical with Xavier seemed so satisfactory at the time, but now it was nothing but fuel to the fire that they were all just as guilty as it seemed. It offered few facts for them to use. Knowledge had been right to advise them to stop using their cell phones. It was surprising to all of them that Kwandao had remained in the US, much less in the city. They all had assumed that once the tournament was over and Re'-Sha was gone, she would just 'go away'. Go away to someplace else, but it'd been naïve to think that. Now she had apparently fled from her school. Janet seemed to have evaded capture, too. And they all learned that Vega had left the country.

_Is Vega the type to leave if the police were looking for him?_ Sharp asked himself. He had no real memories of Vega, just things he knew from Terry. But it didn't seem like him.

* * *

Kwandao, having forgone sleep considering her situation, had been wandering all night and all through this morning. She was tired. Her body begged her for relief and she granted it with sparing breaks from walking. The night and early morning offered her more movement and she was sad to see it go. At that time of night, people out on the streets were fewer and she had the ability to move freely. Now, however, people were beginning to fill the sidewalks and cars and buses started to litter the streets. It wasn't wise for her to be out, so she took to sidestreets, alleys and whatever shelter she was afforded. She knew the downtown area fairly well, but finding Terry was something completely different. She was relying on her Millennium Ring for that and it wasn't going well.

She had to hide the ring inside her clothes. She had on a pair of blue jeans with white sneakers. She only wore a t-shirt on top but had on one of her school's bomber jackets. Her black hair was draped over the back of her jacket and she had managed to get a pair of sunglasses to hide 'some' of her Korean features. The sunglasses were nice because they kept people from seeing how red her eyes were becoming every time she became frustrated.

She knew her Millennium Ring could lead her to other Millennium Items, and vice versa. What she hadn't counted on was feeling out two different sets. In one direction, she could feel what seemed like only a couple of items. But in the other, the feeling was much stronger; it seemed like a majority lay in that direction. When she, at first, felt this, it confused her as much as it upset her. She thought it would be relatively easy to just follow the ring, but it wasn't going to be that easy. She made the hopefully right guess to follow the smaller of the two.

* * *

Janet had watched the footage briefly, not knowing how much longer her hiding spot in the guard's tower was safe. The way she had figured things, the cameras were hooked up and recording into the computer. She had found a spindle of rewriteable CD's next to a similar spindle of CD's that were labeled and dated for the entire month. It didn't take much for her to copy that footage to her CD. She slipped the CD into her vest pocket, which was just large enough to occupy it.

Now that she had that finished, she prepared to leave but then her eye caught the inside of the loading dock. She reminded herself that she wanted to try to see if there was anything to be found in there as well. She had pretty good luck in getting this video and decided to press her luck

Using the cameras, she scouted the interior and didn't see anyone walking around. However, the cameras didn't show the entire area. The camera mounted right above the large garage style doors didn't show the opposite wall. Janet slipped out of the tower and crept around to the front. Running toward the door didn't seem like a good idea so she decided to just walk. This gave people passing on the street more of an opportunity to identify her, but they might be more suspicious to see a girl running around a secure area than walking.

She placed her hands in her pockets, slightly tilted her head down and began trekking across the yard. Off to her left, she could indeed see more than her fair share of people walking along, and even taking a cursory glance at her, but no one called out bloody murder. She got to the end of the loading dock and climbed the stairs to it, the overhang effectively putting her out of sight again. Absentmindedly, she had a worrisome thought as she reached for the door and it was confirmed when she tried to open it.

It was locked.

She looked around. She was no lock-picker and she didn't think she should break it down, even if she could. But the only other way in was through that door, or the garage doors. She turned her attention to them, reaching for the first one nearest the door.

Locked.

She tried the second one.

Locked.

She tried the third one.

Unlocked. But as she opened it up a bit, the chains, pulleys and wheels that made the thing move made so much noise that she let it down again immediately. It fell to the ground with a audible crash and she could hear a chain behind the door rattle a bit. She cursed the door, if there was someone inside, no doubt they heard that!

Since she had moved down from the edge where she was more protected from pedestrians, more people could see her now. As casually as she could manage, she walked toward the door she tried at first. She pressed a ear to it, trying to hear if anyone was moving or saying anything inside. Nothing.

Steeling her resolve again, she moved toward the third garage door again, grimacing as the door made more noise that she would've liked. She found that the door held itself open at about the halfway point. She didn't dare to raise it fully. She crouched down and slipped inside.

"Janet Rush, isn't it?"

Janet spun to her right in the dimmed light of the dock's interior. Before she knew it, a fist, or something like that, came across her chin. She was completely unprepared and felt her head rattle from the impact. She hit the ground, still and unmoving.

* * *

"Wake up."

"…"

"I said, WAKE UP!"

Janet stirred slightly, feeling a numbness and tenderness in her jaw at the same time. She felt in her mouth with her tongue, tasting blood. The copper taste acted like a spark plug to her anger and senses. She wanted to lash out at the voice but realized she had been restrained to a simple wooden chair. Darkness shrouded all around her and the only light in the area came from some source above her head she couldn't identify. It only illuminated the area around her in maybe a three or four foot diameter.

She lifted her head, searching through the blackness for the person whom the voice belonged to. She could tell it was male.

"You're up and about." The voice said.

"I'll be up and in your ass for that cheap shot!" Janet shot back. She swished around in her mouth and spat to her side.

"Heh heh heh. You DO have a temper don't you. I like that. It shows…spirit."

"Spirit, he says." Janet mocked, looking around her, slyly. That voice sounded like it was coming from everywhere. Not from one particular place.

"Yes, it does seem like this 'modification' that ghost did to you was pretty major."

"Ghost?"

"Her name escapes me. But that doesn't matter. This is the here and now."

Janet didn't say anything to that. She heard footsteps but didn't see anyone approaching.

"My name isn't important, but my business with you is."

Janet pulled against her bonds furiously, screaming for her captor to release her and let her meet her face to face like a man should. The voice wasn't fazed however, he continued like she hadn't interrupted at all.

"Stop trying to investigate the theft of the museum's exhibits and turn yourself into the police immediately."

Janet took the comment and let a laugh fly out into the still air after his proposal. She laughed for a good few seconds from a healthy place and felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.

"Oh, I don't know who you are, but you're one funny guy." She said, heaving to catch her breath.

"I guess you don't intend to comply."

"Tell you what, why don't you show me your face, tell me what's really going on, and then I might consider it." She peered off straight ahead with a small smirk on her face. It probably seemed kind of odd since she was sure her lip was swollen.

"This has nothing to do with you. The –"

"Excuse me? I have everything to do with this when it's my life that's been tampered with!" Janet interrupted, her smirk gone.

There was silence for a moment. Janet waited.

Suddenly, a large hand clapped over her throat. A pathetic yelp made its way out of her mouth before no other sounds besides struggled breathing was heard. The palm was massive and the hand enclosed her neck like he was holding onto a cane. Her hands tugged wildly at her bonds and she arched her back, doing whatever she could to try to get at the hand that was strangling her.

"Listen to me. And _please_ pass the message along to your little duelist friends. The people that set you up? You're better off not knowing anything at all about who and what they are. This is their method. They take what they want. They cover their butts well. Then they disappear."

As suffocating as it was, the hand tightened on her. She could feel her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"Turn yourself in. That way…you might live."

The hand released her. She had been a few inches over the ground and she fell back to the ground with a loud clatter as the wood chair wobbled for a minute but righted itself. Janet struggled to regain her regular breathing pattern. She desperately wanted to reach for her throat but her restraints held fast.

"Don't give your life up on foolish pride."

Janet was still.

"There's things at work here you might not ever fully understand. Give this up."

"Hey, buddy?" Janet said, her voice barely a whisper as she continued. "My life is what I choose to make of it. Whatever days I have ahead of me, I'm going to live them the way I choose to. You want to talk about pride? I'm not proud at all…"

She turned her head up to the light that was still humming above her, the light shining onto her reddened eyes, swollen lip and pulsing neck. Her body ached, but she still managed to steel herself and speak with all the truthfulness she had. All things that she held true to herself and every moral fiber in her being as she said in a horse tone.

"I'll control my own destiny."

A silence settled over the area. Janet didn't say anything more and the voice didn't seem to have anything to say against what Janet just declared. The nerves in Janet's neck started to tingle, halfway expecting the hand to come out again and trap her throat. Instead, she heard a chuckle.

"Heh heh heh. You do have spirit, girl."

A LCD screen off to Janet's right suddenly came to life. The darkness had hidden it well and Janet never even noticed it. The soft light coming from it did little to illuminate the rest of her room. If it was even a room, it could be a cell for all she knew. The screen hummed to life in a soft white then that white faded away to show a picture. On it, there were three plain clothes men crouched over a long, wooden, rectangular crate in the process of taking pictures and inspecting it. Over them stood three uniformed officers. One was looking down at what the three on the ground were doing, another was inspecting a clear plastic bag. The bag itself had been circled in a yellow color. The third officer was looking into another plastic bag at some small white thing. He was too far away in the picture for Janet to make it out.

"The items that the museum were bringing in," the voice began, "were new exhibits. Something called 'Dragon Bones' as they say."

"Dragon Bones?" Janet asked.

"Just listen, and don't interrupt me." The voice said in a demanding but flat tone. Janet complied, if only for the sake that this new info was interesting.

"Close to 200 years ago, a man in the Peking province of China was trying to help treat his family of malaria. From the local doctor, he received some of these Dragon Bones which he was instructed to grind into powder for the sick. He didn't, he discovered these Dragon Bones had marks on them that, as its known now, was the earliest known writing system. Some newly uncovered ones were brought out here to the States to be shown in your museum, until your 'double' stole them. Look at the first circled item. The one that looks empty."

Janet peered harder at it. He talked like it wasn't empty but she couldn't see anything inside.

"They recovered hair from the scene. Too early to say whom, though its very long and black. Over a foot long."

Janet thought about that a moment. _Well, out of the six of us, there are only three that have hair that long, Lamar Vega, Natasha Chapel and Kwandao Kawamura. Vega's hair is dyed golden, Natasha is a blonde, but Kwandao is a long haired girl..._

"In that other bag, they found a note or something like it." The voice said. The picture faded and another came onto the screen, this one a close up of said note. The only thing about it was that it was written in a language Janet couldn't decipher. It looked almost Chinese or Japanese, but for all she knew it could be Swahili or something.

"No ones translated it yet." The voice said, answering Janet's next question.

With that, the screen went dark again and Janet was alone with the darkness again.

"What's the deal?" she asked.

From some unseen place, some items dropped at her feet. Being restrained as she was, she had to lean forward a bit to see them. On the ground was the CD she had made in the guard tower, copies of the pictures she had just been shown, some kind of manilla file folder and a larger copy of the un-translated note.

"You won me over a bit, girl. If anything, you can go play detective for awhile since you're so adamant on being your own boss. I guess it'll give you a better sense of accomplishment when you get yourself arrested."

Janet felt someone behind her, messing with her bonds. She was about to whip her head around to see but that large hand came out again and grabbed her by the temple and kept her head facing forward.

"Don't move!" he growled fiercely into her left ear. Janet exhaled a long breath, just hoping for one chance to let her own hand connect with this guy's face for a change. But she did feel her bonds come undone and she kicked her feet a little to get blood pumping to them again. The hand remained on her head, firmly keeping her head in place. Just then, another light came on straight ahead that illuminated a steel door directly in front of her.

"Take it all and leave."

"What, no treats for your guest?" Janet sneered. The bonds were gone and she raised herself up to leave but the hand never left her forehead. Obviously, he didn't want her to learn who he was and kept her in front of him.

"My 'treat' was to advise you to keep your nose clear of this. You aren't listening, typical of kids your age."

"Excuse me?" she said huffily. She had gathered the papers and the CD and was being marched toward the door.

"You think you know it all when you don't know anything. The real world is cold and cruel, unforgiving and ignorant."

"What's that mean?" she asked, arriving at the door.

The voice behind her let out his first laugh, "You don't need me to explain it. Make it through this and watch how the world looks at you afterwards…"

With that, the voice opened the door in front of her and gave her a rough shove out.


	9. Vega vs Savior : The Temptation I

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

In Japan, the sun had long set and most people were asleep or well on the way. Lamar Vega had no intentions of sleep. He had parked himself on Suzuku's couch with her laptop and was busy searching the internet. After the newscast he had heard with Suzuku about 'him' apparently stealing something from the Millstone Museum back home, he had watched the news for more information. Unfortunately, it was all stuff that related to Japan. That international story made it because it was something that the whole world, at least in CNN's eyes, should at least know about. But no point dwelling on it. That relieved Vega, nothing like knowing that the whole world might've watched you on the news doing something you know you didn't do.

After the TV turned out to be a bust, he turned to the internet for more information. Suzuku had stayed up with him the whole time but now she had drifted off to sleep on the other end of her couch. Her head leaned off to the side, supported by her feathery pillows and her shoulder.

Back in town, this heist was all that everyone was talking about news wise. It was one of the lead stories seeing as how it was morning in the States. He found himself reading a story that pretty well summarized how there were six people involved and that among them, he was included.

But something that he was looking at as well was this fact that all of them had been in the Battle City finals together. There were wild theories flying around the internet that they had all befriended each other and dared to pull this off or that Terry, the 'ringleader', proposed a way for them to get rich. All they were doing were reaching for straws but it was unnerving to other duelists that were suddenly getting a lot of flack for actions that really didn't have anything to do with them. Blogs and videos aplenty were up now that had duelists speaking their minds about it.

But that was background, he was trying to focus on the big picture.

His mind was divided between two things. He was well aware of his own popularity and his status in the dueling community. 'The King of Games' as people like to say. People love a winner and he loved to win; attaching a moniker to him didn't really bother him. He overcame challenge after challenge set against him and managed to succeed. He walked on his own road to success and weaved it toward those challenges he had managed to overcome instead of around them. Such was his way.

So he was wondering if this was the work of someone or a group out to set him up? Or was it the work of someone or a group to just use his likeness because…well, he's just that visible.

In fact, the whole group of them were pretty visible now that that Battle City had ended. It made people wake up and notice duelists like Jamie Cantou and Catravious 'Knowledge' Collins. It made people more aware of how good people like Kwandao Kawamura and Janet Rush are and it made stars of people like him. And Terry Hairston.

A blinking window on his screen notified Vega of a new update on one of the news sites he was monitoring. Bringing the screen up, he saw a station had uploaded a video of their coverage on the heist. He didn't know it was the same video Sharp, Jamie and Knowledge had watched earlier. He watched it himself silently, taking it all in until toward the end, something caught his attention.

_"...nickname him the "King of Games" after the lead character in the serialized comic book. Phone calls to Terry Hairston also went unanswered. Lamar Vega was unable to be reached, although some report that he may have fled the country..."_

His eyes widened at this after he watched it over again to make sure of it. Somehow, it was known he wasn't in the US anymore. More than a dozen possibilities came up to him as to how…someone saw him, his passport, an assumption, tracking his money, and so on.

But it was clear he wasn't as safe as he thought before. He wasn't sure how things would be handled if he were caught. Extradition from a foreign country for theft? He didn't know if it was possible but he didn't plan on finding out.

All of a sudden, the tiredness he had been evading swooped in and fell on him.

* * *

Kwandao stood outside of a small, white shop with a large bay window in front of it. A sign nearby said 'RJ Sport Cards'. Her Millennium Ring was leading her toward this store, and she wasn't expecting it at all. She really didn't know what to expect but somewhere in her mind, she had thought she'd be heading for Terry's house or some kind of hideaway or even a police station or lockup before she'd turn away. Not this.

She tried the door gingerly. Locked. She wasn't surprised, the store was closed today and all the lights were off. The blinds were pulled over the large window and it was silent. She walked past the bay window about to look around the building but noticed a crack in the vertical blinds. One of the end ones had been snapped off and offered a small glimpse inside of the store. She cupped her hands around her face and pressed against the glass, not letting any light into her eyes so she could make out the interior.

Through the glass, she could clearly make out three guys standing around talking among themselves. And she recognized them all. Though she couldn't place the names of the two, indeed, the one she came looking for was there.

"Terry!" she gasped aloud.

Leaving the glass, she ran back toward the door and pounded on it with the flat of her palm.

Inside the store, Sharp and Knowledge both were immediately on edge.

* * *

_Twwt...tweeeeet._

Knowledge looked genuinely surprised but Sharp narrowed his eyes and looked around the store. Sharp had heard that buzzing before. Every time he was close to Re'-Sha. All of a sudden, three sharp bangs were heard. Someone beating on the door.

Jamie and Knowledge close to jumped out of their shoes and Sharp crouched down to the ground and narrowed his eyes at the little hallway that led to the door. It was then that they heard a female voice call out 'Terry!' through the door. Jamie and Knowledge turned to Sharp.

"Did you tell someone you were here?" Knowledge hissed.

"No one." Sharp said in a whisper.

"So who's that?" Jamie said, frantically pointing toward the hall himself.

"Trouble…" Sharp said, himself creeping toward the hallway with Knowledge and Jamie in tow. He leaned up against the wall and peered around the corner toward the doorway.

"Kwandao?" he said, stepping away from the door. He moved into the hall and opened the door for her. She rushed in and threw herself at Sharp.

"Oh Terry, you have to help me!" she bawled into the arm of Sharp's she had wrapped herself around.

Right then, Sharp felt a stinging throb in the back of his head. It made him flinch and the action made Kwandao release his arm and look up slightly at him. Sharp didn't immediately notice, he had closed his eyes and was rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

_Another Millennium Item to add to the party..._Jamie sarcastically thought inwardly. He just huffed, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, watching Knowledge, Sharp and Kwandao.

Knowledge was having a similar reaction. He watched her with cold eyes with still hurtful memories coming to bear with her as the focal point. Re'-Sha using her as a shield when he unwittingly tried to annihilate her, the non-role she played in Janet's duel against Re'-Sha, how she'd been rid of a evil while others were still being punished.

Kwandao realized everyone was staring at her. She immediately backed away from Sharp and pressed herself against the wall. The three guys formed a sort of semicircle around her as she just stared down at the ground. She knew what must be going through their heads, particularly Terry's and Knowledge's. Re'-Sha had hurt them both so much, she was sure that it still scarred the two of them. A_ll the things that Re'-Sha made me do... I can still look in the mirror at myself and almost see that ghost hanging over me. I don't think I'll ever be able to really look at myself without seeing 'her'. It must be the same for them..._

"It's the same for you too, isn't it?" she asked of them all. "All you see when you look at me…is 'her'." None of the boys spoke so she continued. "I don't blame you. I…she…did terrible things to you all."

She thought she heard someone mutter 'Damn, right' under their breath. She looked up at their faces but couldn't tell who. Her eyes started to water but she fought back the tears. She felt extremely bad for them but she couldn't turn herself into a wimp in front of them.

"Let's get away from the window." Was the suggestion Sharp made to get everyone moving. They all filed into the main lobby of the store with Kwandao lagging behind.

Seeing the reception she had received upon arriving, she was not eager to embrace their space and began to think this might not have been a good idea. She was so wrapped up that she missed Jamie's question.

"I said, is Re'-Sha really gone?" he asked again.

Kwandao looked down at the Millennium Ring hanging on her chest and nodded. "Where there was all this hate and passion, there's nothing anymore." She said, not wanting to elaborate further.

"I do have to, I guess, thank you for that." she said, turning to Sharp.

"Well, first off, I'm not-" he started, but Kwandao raised a small hand in a almost apologetic manner that made him stop.

"I know. You're not Terry." She said, turning toward him. "I know you're that thing that helped-" The moment she said 'thing' aloud, Sharp's green eyes very noticeably flashed and he drew in a sharp breath. He looked at her for another moment before letting his gaze, deliberately and very slowly, turn to Jamie.

"This 'thing' just got a name, today, Kwandao." He said, not turning his head away from Jamie but letting his eye catch hers out of the corner of his. He did not try to mask or dissuade his resentment to being called 'thing' again. "My name is Sharp."

Jamie met the gaze with a cold one of his own, but he tried to disguise an involuntary shiver that rattled his shoulders slightly.

Kwandao simply nodded, noticing his abrupt change in behavior and took on an even more apologetic tone. "Sharp, thank you for everything you did for me."

Sharp closed his eyes and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "I just did what needed to be done. The world's a better place without her around, even if the rest of the world knows nothing about it."

"It's probably better that way." Kwandao agreed.

"I don't agree with that." Jamie said. "A whole city saw two Exodias get down, a guy become crippled in the middle of a duel and nearly a lynching." Sharp rubbed his neck, recalling the all-too real Trapped in the Machine Spell Card that nearly did kill him. And Terry. The card had scarred Sharp so much that he had destroyed the one copy of it Re'-Sha had in her deck. Watching the little green and brown bits of the Spell Card drift away relieved him.

"Was that really just about a week ago?" he rhetorically said aloud.

"Funny how things turn in seven days." Jamie said grimly.

"Are you hiding, too?" Kwandao asked of them all. Knowledge wasn't speaking and had his head turned away.

"Not hiding…" Sharp said, finally seeing the conversation sway to something he wanted to speak on. "Just watching and waiting."

"Watching and waiting? What are you…wait. You can't be serious." She looked at Sharp with a shocked expression.

Sharp looked right into her eyes as he spoke, "If someone wants to throw me to the wolves, I'll be damned if I wont take one or two down with me."

"Like it or not, as cliché as it sounds, we're going to clear our names." Jamie said to her.

Knowledge remained quiet, but no one paid it attention.

"The police are looking for us all!" she said in exasperation.

"Then why did you run here instead of to the police?" asked Sharp.

"I…" Kwandao stopped herself, "I didn't know what to do."

"I know what you did." Sharp said, taking a step forward. "You relied on your instincts to find some help. You know what my instincts are telling me, Kwandao? When I lay hands on the people responsible, it's over for them."

The way that he spoke it, everyone there got the idea of what Sharp had intended. The common consensus among them was that while Sharp himself was really an unknown to them, his morals were really the true mystery. He didn't grow up with 16 or 17 years of people telling him right from wrong. Or with the ideals of justice and integrity. It was the simple thought, 'remove that which threatens you', that seemed to be guiding him while the rest of the world stacked justice and integrity on top of that. Civilization, as it's called. No, he had grown up from infant to young adult in the course of about a week or so and it shows. Pops up out of nowhere and does the deed. He did what everyone praised yet hesitated to do and, to put it bluntly, killed Re'-Sha. When a person that has already killed talks that way, you must take notice. It's a sad fact that killing and murder is something that becomes easier to humans the more that they practice it. Especially at a 'young' age.

Sharp noticed the odd looks from everyone gathered around, but disregarded them all. If he was going to end up caught and jailed, he was going to take more than a couple of these copycats down with him. He crossed his arms across his chest.

"This is what I think we ought to do." He looked at everyone and they all were waiting on him. He walked back into the office and took up one of the dry erase markers and began writing on the board. "We need information. And we've got nothing right now."

On the board he had written, in a column, 'Who, What, When, Where, Why', each with a dash next to them. "Who are they…What are they and what did they steal…Where are they or where did they go…Why did they do it and why did they frame us…"

"What about 'When'?" asked Kwandao.

"What about it? When doesn't help us out." Jamie said.

"Fact is, were not getting much out of using the internet to look at news sites. We need to get our own info. And I think that we ought to head back outside to do it." Sharp said. He was met with nays in all forms from all three others. He explained that he expected that they wouldn't agree, but what other options did they have?

"I don't see many, but I also don't see the benefits of going out into a place where everyone is looking to turn me in." Jamie said to Sharp, becoming his foil again.

"It's a risk we'll all have to take."

"Even you?"

"What do you mean? Of course I intend to go outside. Matter of fact, I was planning on going to the museum itself."

"What the hell?" Jamie jumped up and raised his hands in the air, "You want to jump right to the place where everyone sees our pictures with their morning doughnuts."

"Give me a better idea." Sharp said evenly to Jamie.

"How about not going at all?" Jamie said.

Sharp moved toward the doorway, grabbing his backpack as he went. "And how is that helpful? You guys can do whatever you wanna do. It's not like it's going to be the first time that I carry more responsibility than I should."

With that as his parting shot, Sharp stepped into the hallway and walked out of the store. Once on the street, he turned his attention toward heading for the museum.

_Not sure what I will find or even if anything is there, but talking isn't getting the job done._ As he walked, he turned and looked over his shoulder at the façade of the store. _And Jamie is really starting to work my nerve..._

Knowledge had heard the exchange between Jamie and Sharp but to him, it was getting to be more and more frequent. Part of him wanted to break the two of them up but he didn't bother. The events of the last week and of the last two days were beginning to wear him out.

_First, I messed up and wasn't able to help Janet when she might've needed it the most. Then, Re'-Sha ruined my one shot at her by throwing Kwandao in the way. Then, after the whole tournament was over, I couldn't manage to help Janet anymore. Or Terry. On top of that, Janet punked me out of using that Millennium Eye to set her back to the way she was and beat me soundly in the process. Everything that I set out to do, I can't even fully finish. Or I just can't or won't do it at all._

Knowledge slammed his fist down into RJ's glass counter that held cards beneath it, and just fumed to himself. But it brought the attention of Kwandao and Jamie.

"You alright, Knowledge?" Jamie asked, concerned about him. He just seemed to be brooding for the last few hours but wouldn't speak on it.

"No, I ain't alright." Knowledge said, fishing his deck from his pocket and slapping it into his Duel Disk. "I'm leaving, too."

Jamie flipped out, leaning into Knowledge's face as he spoke, "Don't tell me you're in the same boat as Sharp is?"

Knowledge waved off the idea with a flutter of his hand. "Sharp and my goals…right now, at least…couldn't be more different."

Jamie looked closely at Knowledge and figured what he was really stressing about. "It's about Janet isn't it?" Knowledge didn't say anything, he just moved past him and Kwandao, who had silently moved into his way, toward the doorway.

"Knowledge, whatever your plan to do about Janet…it has to wait."

Knowledge heard the words and they set off a chain reaction in his mind. He whipped around to face Jamie and practically yelled, "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Jamie cleared his throat and took a long breath. Thinking carefully about his words, he exhaled that breath and looked Knowledge right into his eyes. "Think about it, Knowledge. Janet is in the same boat as us. I'd bet everything I have that she's out hiding like the rest of us. Now isn't the time to try to challenge her. We all have to focus and get it together so-"

Knowledge growled from deep within his throat and yelled as he let loose a punch that left a very noticeable dent in one of RJ's walls. He left the hand there as he exhaled short, quick breaths through his mouth, trying unsuccessfully to calm himself down.

"It will get handled when it's time, Knowledge. But right now, it isn't the time. We have to get this thing off of our backs first. I can't imagine how you're feeling, but try to hear me out when I say that you'll get your chance later. Right now, we've got work to do."

Knowledge remembered how Jamie was opposed to Sharp's idea to go outside of the store for information and asked him just how he planned to do that.

"We'll probably have to follow Sharp's example and do like he thought to do. But NOT at that museum."

Knowledge looked at Jamie curiously as he spoke again. "It's time we tried to do some undercover work."

"Undercover work?" Knowledge asked.

"Right. Time I called in some favors…" Jamie said, rubbing his hands together.

* * *

"What is it?"

"There might be some trouble, Savior."

"Explain, Rina."

"The re-acquisition of the Dragon Bones."

"What?"

"We have been watching how the authorities tackle the case and if they apprehend the kids."

"Have they?"

"No, not yet. And we haven't been able to locate them either."

"Well, what is the trouble?"

"It is uncomforting to have those kids still running around. In particular, the one that carries the Millennium Puzzle."

"It has only been a day. When we have the Dragon Bones back, there's nothing the world will have to fear from their power."

"I feel that steps should've been taken to just kill him."

"…You're quite amusing. At first, you were against putting those kids into this situation at all. Now that you know the possible significance of the Dragon Bones and the Millennium Puzzle together…"

"I just want peace, like everyone. And to keep the peace in place, the most definite way to ensure that is to just kill him."

"Killing doesn't solve anything definitively. And it isn't our way anymore."

"…I suppose not."

"The mission was successful and we have the Dragon Bones. How long until the team I dispatched leaves?"

"They said two days."

"Then in two days, the peace you want, we all want, to protect will be ensured to last a little longer."

"Yes…Savior."

* * *

Janet walked around and around the building she had been flushed out of, looking for some sort of sign or a address or something to tell her just what the place was. She couldn't find anything. In fact, the doorway she had been flushed out of was disguised so that it blended into the natural brick on the side of the building. She was still clutching the info she had and decided to leave this place alone for awhile. She made a mental note of where it was, but then left.

She kept her head down as she walked, trying to avoid eye contact with people as she moved. But she hadn't gotten more than a few blocks away when she saw someone in the crowd she was surprised to see.

Michael Xavier.

He hadn't seen her, but he noticed her. He was standing outside of some card shop that had a small display of Yu-Gi-Oh cards in the window. She walked toward him, but on the far side of the sidewalk to stay out of his peripheral vision. It proved fruitless because just as she managed to get behind him and started walking toward his backside, she saw him look over his shoulder at her.

"Caught you in the reflection." He said, nodding toward the glass.

Janet nodded, and moved toward his side, looking at the cards as he was. To passersby, they were just two kids that were looking at more money to waste on their card game.

"Caught you on the news." Janet said, evenly. "I guess someone beat you up after a duel?"

"Namely, your Battle City champion, Terry. Or King of Duelists." He smirked to himself, "Or even Millstone's most wanted right about now." He turned toward her, saying she was hot property right now too, referring to her wanted status as well.

Janet turned to look at Xavier. "You going to tell the police you saw me?"

Xavier put his hands into his pockets and leaned back, dripping with that cockiness. "Who's to say I won't just restrain you now? Let the police come and get you in about 15 minutes?"

Janet leveled herself against Xavier. He stood just a few inches higher than her but his cockiness and swagger only had the effect of annoying her even more. "I'll make you regret it if you tried it."

Now Xavier was taken aback. This was not the reaction he had expected from Janet. All the time he had spent with Clan Prime had his instincts telling him that with the threat of turning her in, she'd fold. Now she was calling his bluff.

He regained his stance and looked down at her with a passive stare. "Sure, sure." He said, but he never took his eyes off hers. He fought to not show it, but he saw a coldness there he had never seen in the girl in all the time he'd known her. She stood before him with her hands at her sides, seemingly not trying to intimidate him but she was rattling him a bit.

"I'm not the one wanted for robbery." He chided.

"First off, I didn't do it. But…we can always add assault to it." Janet remarked.

Now was the time that that cockiness showed in his laugh. "Janet, the second you try to swing at me…"

He stood up with his full authority, punctuating every physical advantage he had over the smaller Janet in his stance. She saw the warning. She knew she wasn't afraid of him, he knew she wasn't intimidated by him. The posturing wasn't getting them anywhere.

"Anyway, you just stay out of my way, Xavier. All I'm looking to do is get the ones that tried to ruin me."

"Oh, you mean your little buddies Jamie and Knowledge and Terry?" She raised an eyebrow, while Xavier continued. "Yeah, what happened? You didn't get a fair slice of the payoff?"

Janet was becoming frustrated by Xavier. She wasn't in the mood to convince him of her innocence and frankly, she had nothing but her word. However, she already had used her word to tell him to back off. That's not something an innocent person might do, she mused, so she moved to leave.

Xavier blocked her path and pulled a cell phone from his pocket. On the display was a phone number she didn't recognize but his index finger was positioned right over the 'talk' button to initiate the call. Janet reached for the phone, but Xavier was too swift and raised above his head away from her. He kept his finger on that talk button.

"Did you think I was kidding when I said I'd have the police here in 15 minutes?"

Janet didn't flinch. Quick as lightning, she moved in extremely close to Xavier. So much so that she was literally pressed against his body. Her left hand she kept to her side, the same side that Xavier had his cell phone in. But with her other hand, she deftly delivered a sharp jab to Xavier's crotch. Then just as quickly, she clawed her small hand into it.

His reaction was immediate. Both hands fell to between his legs to grab at his manhood. That was just what she wanted. She easily snatched the cell phone from his loose grasp as his hands were trying to wrench her own from his family jewels. Her response was to grasp harder. She couldn't 'feel' anything through his jeans but knew that she had him in a bad position. Xavier stopped trying to force her hand off of him but he did not let go. She slipped his cell phone into her back pocket.

"Little son of a…!" he growled fiercely, a dull throbbing that reached from his loins to the pit of his stomach.

"Don't make a move, Xavier." she commanded fiercely. With his future children at stake, he complied without complaint. She slipped her free arm and hand around his side as if she were hugging him to passers by.

"Crafty for…a innocent girl…" Xavier wheezed, each little twitch in Janet's muscles in her hands translating to him drawing out a quick breath.

"I AM innocent." She whispered, leaning in toward his ear. He couldn't see but her face was twisted into a scowl having to be this close. "But don't think I will just let you walk over me because I'm suspected."

"OK, OK, I believe you." Xavier said.

"I don't trust you, Xavier." She said, adding more pressure.

"Oh, believe me!" Xavier yelled, despite his predicament. His eyes were squeezed closed and he looked up toward the sky, grinding his teeth together. People in passing didn't pay much attention, surprisingly.

Janet laid off a little and released him, but used her other hand to pull him toward her. "I still don't trust you. You stay out of this, Xavier because I won't ask again."

Xavier, still recovering from her cheap shot, sneered at his former teammate, "You're going to pay for that."

Janet didn't think she would, so she slipped past him as she originally intended to and began walking down the street again. Behind her though, the sneer that Xavier had on his face turned upside down into a grin.

* * *

Vega had been drifting between being awake and asleep for what must've been about an hour. He could recall doing some work, then waking up to see a few minutes have passed. Finally, his body had succumbed to the exhaustion and he was sleeping peacefully with his arms crossed on top of Suzuku's desk. He had been this way for about an hour when he roused himself again. Uncomfortable from sleeping in such an awkward position, he yawned and stretched his limbs feeling slightly refreshed.

Despite herself, Suzuku was not a soundless sleeper and the muffled sounds of light snoring from her bedroom told him that she had decided to lay herself down to rest for awhile as well. Vega was not as eager to embrace sleep again, though. All the frustrations hadn't eased and he was no further along in his little 'investigation' than when he started.

"It's looking more and more like I'd need to be there in the U.S. to learn anything significant." He mumbled to himself. He leaned back heavily into the soft leather computer chair and closed his eyes. The soft darkness of the room and the early morning hours seemed to just push his eyelids down for him.

He was just about to mumble something else to himself but he felt a strong, cold draft overtake him. He shivered and looked around the small room. There were no openings except the doorway that lead out into Suzuku's living room. He lifted himself up and went into the living room.

"Ah, the golden hair and caramel skin."

Vega snapped his head left toward the masculine voice. He knew Suzuku was not married or had any men here. The living room was a pretty big, but plain, square room with two windows that faced out onto the street. To the left, the direction Vega was looking, was the small hallway that made up Suzuku's kitchen. This led right to her doorway to the outside. From his position right outside her office door, he could see a male figure standing in front of the outside door.

"You must be Lamar Vega, then." The man said in English. An accent Vega could only classify as Asian was on the man's voice.

Vega couldn't see very well. The only light in the kitchen came from clock displays off of the microwave, stove and coffee maker. A small bit of light illuminated the hall but not enough to show the man's face. Vega turned and looked behind him. The door that was closed behind him led to Suzuku's bedroom. From what he could tell, it hadn't been tampered with and he could still hear light snoring coming from within.

"You speak English." Vega noted. The man nodded. "Then leave here." Vega didn't think this was some robber. He knew him by name and didn't seem worried that he had been discovered at all. More like he was waiting.

"You and I have some business, Lamar Vega."

"What business would I have with you?" Vega questioned in a calm manner. He was becoming uneasy by this intruder and his quiet attitude.

"Why don't we step outside so as not to intrude on the lady of the house?"

"I don't think so." Vega reasoned. _I'm not gonna give him what he wants._

The man seemed to move to look past Vega to look at the door behind him, then he nodded. "Don't worry about the woman. I've got no business with her. This is between me…you…and your friends Kwandao, Janet, Catravious, Terry and Jamie.

Vega took a step toward the man, which was to actually just step into the living room and turn to face him fully. "What do you know about that?"

The man seemed to lower his head. "That I am responsible."

Vega turned that statement over in his head. Something in his mind, some off-beat kind of logic was telling him that this guy was lying to him. No one would come right out and admit to that. But the fact this guy had found him and knew where he was staying nagged at him. He only turned it over in his head for a few moments before he convinced himself that this guy knew _something_ about this false charge.

"Who are you?" Vega icily demanded, continuing to walk toward the stranger.

"Savior."

"S-Savior?" Vega said, eliciting a dry laugh from him and he stopped just short of the man. Maybe three feet of space separated them.

"The reason isn't important for you to know."

"I know." Vega agreed. "Because all that's important is that I take you somewhere where I can use you to clear my name."

The man shook his head in disagreement. "No, Vega. I'm not going anywhere except home when I'm done here. And if you're smart, you'll return with me."

"That's your 'business' you have with me?" Vega said.

The man stepped forward and Vega was finally able to get a closer look at the man. He was fairly short and he stood maybe half a head below Vega. He was right to guess on an Asian accent because the man's face was undoubtedly Asian. A short, almost military style crew cut made up his hair. Slim cheeks, narrow and precise eyebrows and a small, thin mouth made up the rest of his facial feature except for two other things. One was that over his left eye, he bore an ugly looking scar. The scar had healed over but left disfiguring scabs and cuts over an area around primarily his left eye and a bit of his forehead. The man was fairly pale looking and these had healed into dark, almost dark brown and black blemishes. They all combined to profile a man Vega would've guessed to be around his mid 40's or so, with a few other wrinkles in his face. The other factor was the color of this man's eyes. Red. And the fact he didn't seem to blink at all. They contributed to give Savior an otherwordly, inhuman appearance facially.

"You're not the first." The man said with some touch of sentimentality, touching the scar lightly with his left hand.

"Your life's problems don't interest me." Vega dismissed.

"Anyway, let's continue this outside." Savior said, stepping out the door. Vega noticed that the man left and then started climbing the ladder up to Suzuku's roof. Silently, Vega reached for his Duel Disk and slipped it onto his arm. As Savior was climbing, he could see a Duel Disk of his own laying on his side, but not attached to his arm. Vega stepped outside into the warm night air and took a small look down the stairs to the street below. He saw no one else, nor any cars or things like that. He didn't lock the door to Suzuku's apartment but shut it firmly, then climbed up the ladder to the roof.

Vega was surprised to see that Suzuku had 'touched up' the roof by drawing a duel ring in chalk almost in the center of it. However, Savior was waiting for him in the middle of that ring.

With the moonlight, Vega could make out more of how the man was dressed. Despite the warm night, Savior was wrapped up into a black overcoat that wafted softly with the slight breeze blowing across the rooftop. Beneath it, Vega wasn't sure. Maybe black pants and a similar style of shirt. A Duel Disk was hanging off his hip, supported by a thread that was looped through the arm rest and slung over Savior's shoulder.

"Return home with you?" Vega asked, getting right to the point he wanted to address.

"Yes. I know you're trying to prove your innocence. Now you know as well who is responsible for it. Despite that, I am willing to allow you to return to my home."

"To do what?" Vega queried, sure that this offer was about as sweet as a pot of snake venom.

"To join our cause. To become a part of the Shang Dynasty."

"The Shang Dynasty? Just what is that?" Vega asked.

Savior seemed to be considering his words very carefully when he said, "A group that watches over people. We do what is…"Savior paused, looking at Vega as he said, "We do what is…necessary…to ensure peace. Even if it may hurt a few people in the process."

Vega didn't miss the hook. "So why was it necessary for you to set me up? And then offer me membership to your little club right after? That sounds like you're forcing my hand into joining your group."

"Quite the opposite. The intention was to leave you for the authorities to find. They would handle things as they do in their countries. But the opportunity to have someone like you join us couldn't be ignored when I found out more about you. You have talents that we could use."

"I'll bet." Vega mocked. "Talents that you could force from a man that's got no place to go to. I'll pass on your offer…Savior."

Savior sighed. "I guess you believe me to be the bad guy."

"When someone as casual as you destroys my life with the little stunt you say you orchestrated? Absolutely."

"If you only knew. I, we, are doing the world good with what we do." Savior said, and as he said it, the spark of realization passed over his face. "But I guess you're too caught up with that Terry Hairston. His way of doing the world good."

Vega raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just say that he has done a service, but that Millennium Puzzle that he draws power from? I don't believe in doing right with something that ought to remain forbidden."

Vega's memory flashed back to just before the end of Battle City. The spectacle he saw part of. Knowledge managing, with one of those Millennium Items, to call down a real Blue-Eyes White Dragon and using it to try to, obviously, kill Re'-Sha. And the move by Terry to stop him by taking the blast he meant for the girl. He recalled the condition it had left Knowledge in. He was barely able to walk, he was in pain all over his body, he couldn't manage to do the simplest things he'd done before alone without help. He became semi-crippled, and almost died because of what he did and what he did it with.

Savior turned away from Vega and walked toward the edge of the rooftop, leaning over the side and peering down at street below. "I suppose good and evil are something that can be looked at objectively. It's an idea that changes with the times. Yesterday's good is today's evil. Nuclear power of the 20th century was praised as a new form of energy the next generation would inherit. A disaster in Chernobyl molded the entire idea into a crime against nature."

Taking what Suzuku said to him before to heart, Vega replied, "Time is what changed that, not the ideals of good and evil. 'No man can step into the same river twice' as it goes. You can't take the opinion of one generation to the next one."

Savior raised his head up slightly, "I suppose so. But let me put this on you, Lamar Vega."

He turned to look at Vega who hadn't moved from his side of the rooftop. "Long ago in the Shang Dynasty…they prevented a disaster. They took demons that were threatening the lives of millions in the world and sealed them away. With no real way to destroy them, it was the best available option. This decision came with them literally destroying everything they had. Nothing left for them to return to. But they did the right thing and the world was better off for it, even if they themselves weren't. A heavy price was paid by its elders."

"Then, thousands of years later, a set of seemingly normal Dragon Bones were unearthed in China that should never have been found. They are what these demons were sealed into. In order to prevent them from becoming the property of someone who would release them, or misuse them, a operation was launched. Recover the Dragon Bones while disguising the trail. And that's what was done. Six kids were chosen. Why? Well that relates to your own beliefs about the times, Vega. Kids are as likely to attempt this robbery as an adult. Especially when the museum that had planned to showcase them intended to announce that the recovered Dragon Bones were related to Yu-Gi-Oh."

A look of brief shock and surprise passed over Vega's face. "Ancient artifacts from thousands of years ago that have something to do with…with a decade old card game?"

By this time, Savior had moved back toward the duel ring and took a stance in the zone set aside for the duelist. Savior swept his hand toward the Duel Disk still attached to his hip. In a fluid motion he took it into his hands and slipped it onto his left arm.

"Talking really doesn't get through to you 'duelists' does it, Vega? If I must, I'll settle this in a way you're probably more accustomed to. But I must ask, with the story you just heard, tell me."

"Tell me, Lamar Vega, am I good or evil?"

Vega brought his own Duel Disk out of standby mode and slipped his deck into it. He stared hard at his deck, forming his answer. "You're out to ruin me, Savior. That alone is enough for me to do whatever I can to bring you down!"

Savior smirked and that small leer combined with those red eyes combined to alarm Vega slightly. Something told him he was not going to have a normal duel with this man.

"Well, I can see you don't intend to join us just yet, Vega. But I'll let you ponder my question long after this duel is over. The first move to you and your Red-Eyes Power Deck is yours."

Vega looked down at his drawn card while replying that Savior had done some homework. He took one card from his hand and showed it to Savior. "I'll summon Snipe Hunter (1500/600) in attack mode!"

A little, petite man clad in silver armor that covered his body appeared, kneeling with its arms crossed on a copy of its own card. A defensive position even though it was in attack mode. In its left hand, it held a weapon that had a gun grip but the end of it looked like a radar dish instead of a gun barrel. It was connected by a thin cord to a discreet backpack on the monster that was humming with a quiet whir sound.

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Vega stated, slipping a card into his Spell/Trap Card Zone and watching as Savior silently drew his card. Despite the tones of this duel, it didn't escape Vega that he was in a duel with a man that could be twice his age. This guy could have kids and here he was playing a game that he was too old to be playing.

"For this turn, I'll summon Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400) in attack mode."

When Savior summoned this monster, a burst of fire materialized where the card was on the field. This fireball surrounded the card and out of it stepped a short and stocky warrior. Black armor with silver tones covered the warriors chest, legs, forearms and head. In its right hand, he swung a oversized broadsword casually, looking for the next victim for him to cleave.

"Chthonians…" Vega said aloud.

"Hmm?" hummed Savior, not looking up at Vega. Instead he was glaring at his cards.

Vega didn't reply to him. _Chthonians. They're cards I wanted to use myself, but didn't have much support. They're called Hell Monsters here in Japan; monsters that were used by Manjyome in the GX anime. But they're not too great, aside from Chthonian Soldier._

"I think I'll set two cards to end." Savior announced, watching two cards appear on his field to his far left. Vega eyed them suspiciously. He put a monster weaker than his out in attack position and two cards to back it up. Even a rookie would be able to sniff this out.

"My turn! Draw!" Vega didn't glance at his drawn card, instead he pointed with the card he had drawn to his Snipe Hunter. "I'll use Snipe Hunter's special effect!"

Snipe Hunter stood up from its crouching stance on its card. Slowly it leveled the weapon it had toward Savior's monster. As it did so, a set of individual numbers, 1-6, appeared above Chthonian Solider. The numbers two, three, four and five settled into a tight diamond pattern on the monster's chest. The numbers one and six had floated down as well, but they were stationed to either side of the monster. Also, a large white die appeared on the fields center.

"What's this?" Savior demanded.

"When I use the effect of Snipe Hunter, I must discard one card from my hand…" Vega announced as he slipped his Dragon Ice (1800/2200) in the graveyard. "When I do that, I must roll a die. If the result of that roll is any number besides one or six, I can destroy the card that I target. I target your Chthonian Soldier!"

The backpack attached to the back of Snipe Hunter hummed to life, turning from black and silver to white swirling with the colors of the rainbow. That coloring traveled into the cord of the weapon Snipe Hunter was holding and the radar dish part of the gun started to glow in similar fashion.

Vega pointed toward the dice in the center of the field. "Dice Roll!" With no hand or force seeming to guide it, the dice jumped from the ground straight up into the air. It turned and spun as it did, becoming just a jumble of falling white with black dots interspersed. When it fell to the ground, it bounced slightly and wasn't spinning nearly as much as before. When it landed again, it did not bounce again, but it did continue to spin. The die continued to rotate until the top face of the die read '3'.

"3! That means I can destroy your Chthonian Soldier!" Vega announced, sweeping his hand from pointing to the die to his Snipe Hunter. The number '3' that was covering the top of Chthonian Soldier's chest started to glow in a soft, red light. The other numbers faded away. A thin beam shot from the tip of Snipe Hunter's gun and shot right at the number '3', through it and through the chest of Chthonian Soldier. The monster grabbed its chest before it shattered into pixels.

"Tch…" Savior grunted.

Vega selected another card out of his hand. "I'll summon Troop Dragon (700/800) in defense mode."

Savior watched the monster appear on the field. A humanoid dragon that wore armor. The dragon had arms and legs encased in light armor and a short sword. It knelt on top of its card in defense and folded its wings behind it. _Defense mode. He's cautious of the two cards I've set on the field. _

"Snipe Hunter (1500/600), direct attack!" Vega called out, watching another charge travel from Snipe Hunter's backpack to its weapon. The monster fired and he watched the beam streak through the air right toward Savior.

"Reverse Card, Open! Trap Card! Security Orb!"

One of the two reverse cards Savior had on his field flipped up and a solid white glassy looking sphere appeared in the path of Vega's monsters blast. "When my opponent's monster attacks, I can use this card. This Trap Card changes the battle position of the monster attacking. I'll turn your Snipe Hunter to defense mode!"

The beam that was heading for Savior instead crashed into the sphere. Bits of all different types of colors splintered off from the beam as it was reflected away from Savior. Meanwhile, Snipe Hunter again took up a defensive stance, having been forced to defense mode by Savior.

"Turn End." Vega said, eyeing his own single reverse card.

"My Turn. Draw." Savior drew his card and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. "I'll summon Lucky Pied Piper (1500/500) in attack mode!" A small, child like angel appeared on Savior's field. It carried a golden flute and wore clothing reminiscent of old world Germany. Simple brown clogs covered the monsters feet, a green vest with a tan shirt beneath with matching green carried a fairly long golden flute that it was playing a light, melancholy tune as Savor spoke.

"Lamar Vega, King of Games, with your familiarity with this game, I'm sure you've heard of Gemini Monsters."

Vega's eyes lit up as he looked upon Lucky Pied Piper in a different way from before. He had taken notice of Gemini Monsters when they were released. It was something he thought might catch with some duelists, but it hadn't. The trouble they were worth didn't give good reason for duelists using them in their decks. It was the same for him, he didn't see how it would fit into his own deck.

Vega took in the situation. His opponent, he could assume, was using Gemini Monsters as his monsters of choice. These monsters have effects but when they're summoned initially, they're treated as Normal Monsters. You would have to choose to Normal Summon that monster, which would already be on the field, on a later turn in order to gain its effect. It's a unique class of monster that combines two thoughts of deck making. One being able to play to the card's once thought of weakness as being treated as a normal monster when it is first summoned. There are many cards that can support normal monsters in a way that most duelists disregard. The other being the cards range. Vega believed that it was possible to create an all Gemini Monster deck that could be successful, or in the right way, it could become tech for another deck type. With the effect some had of being able to special summon type-specific monsters from the graveyard or hand without a cost was a great revival tactic. Others had type specific effects that could help out the right sort of deck. But all these thought came to Vega in a rush. He was not expecting this kind of challenge.

"Lucky Pied Piper, for this turn, is treated as a Normal Monster. Therefore, he doesn't gain any effects. But I don't need them yet. Lucky Pied Piper (1500/500), attack Snipe Hunter! (1500/600)" The tune that Lucky Pied Piper had been playing kept on going. The song was building to a crescendo and when it reached it, the monster played and held a long, high, shrill note that sent shockwaves across the field to Vega's monster. It started to fall apart like a poorly constructed machine and disappeared into nothing.

Vega looked up from his lowered head at Savior. "Interesting."

"Lamar Vega, do you know what a Gemini actually is?"

Vega was familiar with a Gemini in the sense of Greek mythology. "The twins Castor and Pollux. Both having the same mother but different fathers. They joined together to become the Gemini constellation."

Savior nodded. "Basically, yes."

"And you intend to tell me that these monsters are truly Gemini to you."

"No." Savior shook his head. "The point is this, a saying. What you see yet cannot see. What do you see with these monsters, and with the Shang Dynasty, yet you cannot see? Can you answer that, Lamar Vega, King of Games? You'd be surprised at what I see about you, yet you don't see."


	10. Vega vs Savior : The Temptation II

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

_What you see yet cannot see?_ Vega thought to himself. _What does that mean?_

Savior turned his attention back to his field. "You think about that, Vega. I'm sure you can multitask. Meanwhile, I'll use this reverse card. Trap Card. Fine."

Vega furrowed his brow. "What the…?"

"From the effect of Fine, I must discard 2 cards to my graveyard." Savior slipped two cards from his hand and placed them into his graveyard. Vega saw the cards. Monster cards called Doom Shaman and Shadow Delver. Now he only had 3 cards in his hand as he gripped another and slipped it into his Spell/Trap Card Zone. He ended his turn at that.

"My turn. Draw." Vega said, observing the situation. Savior only had his Lucky Pied Piper (1500/500) out in attack mode, but now with two reverse cards. Vega only had his Troop Dragon (700/800) in defense mode as well as a reverse card. He looked down at the back of it on the field, his Fires of Doomsday Quick-Play Spell Card. It would help him bring out his Red-Eyes Black Dragon but he hadn't drawn it yet.

_Fires of Doomsday allows me to Special Summon 2 Doomsday Tokens to the field that can only be used in a Sacrifice Summon if the monster is a Dark monster. I can use it to gather the sacrifices necessary for Red-Eyes, but it'll work as a barrier against Savior if all else fails._ He looked at his drawn Spell Card, Graceful Charity and decided to use it. Vega played it and drew 3 cards. Among those 3 cards, he didn't draw Red-Eyes. Considering his options, he discarded his Level Down Spell Card and The Dark – Hex Sealed Fusion to the graveyard. He would go on the offensive now.

"I'll play this card from my hand. Spell Card! Fissure!"

A sharp crack that sounded more like a report from a handgun split open a large gash in the earth below Lucky Pied Piper. The little monster, despite its wings, was caught completely off guard and fell into the crevice without a sound. Savior didn't voice his displeasure either but his body language betrayed his annoyance with Vega's move.

"With that monster out of my way, I'll sacrifice Troop Dragon (700/800) to summon Kaiser Glider! (2400/2200)" The card version of Kaiser Glider appeared on the field and after a second, the picture section of it began glowing white and shooting light out onto the field. Out of that light, the shape of a winged dragon took shape and the monster materialized onto the field. The monster was without any kind of armor, but the way that its sections of skin were shaped and the placement gave you that sort of impression. It had a golden glow all over its body, even through to the wings.

"Kaiser Glider can't be destroyed in battle with a monster that has the same attack points that it does. Not like it matters, Savior. Without a monster out to defend you, I'll attack you directly!" Kaiser Glider, which had been hovering silently above the field in front of Vega, gave a flap of its wings to attain a slightly higher altitude and opened its mouth wide. What seemed like rays of light started to collect in the monster's maw, expanding more and more as it collected more light. When it had enough to completely fill its mouth, Kaiser Glider dipped its head down and aimed its head at Savior and let loose its energy as a golden colored fireball that left a small tail as it traveled toward him.

"You destroyed my monster…" Savior said as a Trap Card flipped up on his field. When it was standing up fully, the face of the card began glowing white and two bolts of lightning shot out of the card's face. They crossed the field quickly, struck Kaiser Glider, and before the monster could utter anything, it exploded into a mass of golden colored pixels.

"So I return the favor!"

"Grr…A trap?" Vega grunted.

"Yes. When you attacked, Vega, I activated this Trap Card. Justi-Break."

"Justi-Break?" Vega questioned.

"When my opponent attacks one of the Normal Monsters on my side of the field, I can activate this card. I can destroy all monsters on the field except Normal Monsters in attack mode."

Vega silently thought to himself, _Another effect of Kaiser Glider is to send one monster on the field to the owner's hand. But there's no monster on the field for Kaiser Glider to use its effect on. So neither of us have monsters on the field._

Savior took his turn and drew his card. "Now you're the one without any monsters out to defend yourself with. I'll play this card, Equipment Spell Card, Premature Burial!" A glowing cylinder of light appeared on the field to Savior's right. At the same time, a red aura surrounded him and Vega saw his Life Points decrease to 3200.

VEGA: 4000

SAVIOR: 3200

"When I use Premature Burial, at a cost of 800 Life Points, I can Special Summon a monster from my graveyard in attack mode and equip it with this card. I'll summon a monster that I put in my graveyard due to my Trap Card, Fine. I'll Special Summon the Gemini Monster, Doom Shaman! (2400/2000)"

The card of the monster that Savior Special Summoned appeared on the field. From the card, a long black staff topped with a purple crystal of some sort appeared in front of it. Otherwise the staff was very inconspicuous. All of a sudden, the staff that had been hovering on the field began to move like it was being held. The staff started to spin much like a windmill does; slowly at first and then with more speed until it just turned into a sort of transparent circle of black and purple on the outside. As it kept spinning, the outline of a monster could be seen slightly through the spinning object. More and more of the monster began to come into focus. The monster itself was barely as tall as the staff that was in front of it. The monster fully came into focus behind the staff and with a steady hand reached out and grabbed the rapidly spinning staff without as much as a jerk from the inertia.

"Since this is a Gemini Monster and I haven't made a Normal Summon this turn yet, I'll use it now on Doom Shaman." On that command, the monster reared back a little bit and a white aura surrounded the outside of the monster. Vega looked at it as the proof that a Gemini Monster had been 'Second Summoned' and now gained its effect.

"So what does this monster do?" Vega asked, tightening the grip on his cards. He saw Savior look briefly at the back of Doom Shaman then back to him. Much as he tried, he could not hold a gaze at Savior for very long. He always found himself looking away to his cards in his hands or the monsters and cards of Savior's field. But when he turned his attention to Doom Shaman, he didn't miss the laugh he let out.

"Doom Shaman's Gemini effect…Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Fiend-Type monster from either graveyard. But when Doom Shaman leaves the field, I must destroy all monsters that I Special Summoned by this effect."

Vega's mood soured instantly. _Once a turn, he can put another monster out on the field for absolutely nothing!_

"Doom Shaman, return to me my Shadow Delver!"

Doom Shaman, who had been standing stock still since being on the field, just raised its staff off the ground only until it was just above its head. The purple gem on the end of it began to glow and small dark clouds started to gather around both the staff and Doom Shaman. As the gem stopped glowing, so did the movement of these clouds. Eventually, they settled as just hovering masses covering portions of Doom Shaman. Vega didn't see any monster, but saw a counter appear on the field revealing its stats (1500/500).

_Where is it...?_ Vega looked around but didn't see anything but those clouds that were new to the field. He stared harder at those clouds and was greeted by the sight of nearly invisible eyes that were staring at him the whole time. Dark blue with no iris', they just coldly took in Vega's field. And at that monster, Vega smirked as he slipped a card into his graveyard. "I was hoping in a way you'd Special Summon a monster, Savior."

Savior didn't even get to mutter a 'what' before a crack that sounded like thunder crashed. Wind from an unseen source was blowing on Vega's side, whipping his hair around wildly. He pointed ahead of him with an open palm.

"Savior! When you Special Summon a monster to your field, I can Special Summon Dragon Ice (1800/2200) in defense mode from my graveyard to the field! By discarding one card from my hand, I can protect myself from Doom Shaman!"

Savior, unexpectedly, nodded in agreement.

"What?"

"You're partially correct, Lamar Vega. If you pull anything from this duel, I will show you that I don't take things for granted! Spell Card, Double Summon!"

At once the same white aura that surrounded Doom Shaman encircled the small black clouds that were hovering around the same monster. It slowly floated off toward the side into its own space. It didn't form into anything solid and tangible, just a small mass of clouds that had shadowed eyes.

"Double Summon allows me an extra Normal Summon once per turn in the turn I use this Spell Card. Of course, I'll target my Shadow Delver." Savior looked over at the cloud mass to his right now. "Shadow Delver's Gemini effect. Once per turn, I can select one level 4 or lower Dark monster that I control and allow it to attack you directly for that turn. For this turn, I only have my Shadow Delver as the only level 4 Dark monster on the field. I'll use its effect on itself."

Vega sucked his teeth and felt the tension of the duel start to get the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. Every move Savior was making was backing him into a deeper and deeper hole. Doom Shaman, once per turn, could Special Summon a Fiend-Type monster from either graveyard to his field for nothing. This comboed almost seamlessly with the effect of Shadow Delver. A good percentage of Fiend-Type monsters are Dark attribute. With this combination, he could bring out a small monster that his own monsters would not be able to defend against due to Shadow Delver's effect.

_What can I do...?_ Vega wondered to himself.

"Battle! Doom Shaman (2400/2000) attack Dragon Ice! (1800/2200)"

All Doom Shaman did was to slightly raise its staff into the air again, this time aiming it slightly toward Vega's field and his monster. What looked like thin needles began to form around the scepter until a fairly large amount was gathered. Without a command or anything, they propelled themselves toward Dragon Ice, striking it, but not piercing it. Each impact was followed by the sound of cracking glass. Eventually, as the attack ended, the monster had been carved up into millions of shattered bits that wafted away.

"Your field doesn't have any monsters to protect you. Shadow Delver, (1500/500) direct attack! The small swirl of clouds didn't seem to move on Savior's command but Vega could see that the clouds were acting like little storms. Unexpectedly, the clouds blasted Vega with a intense wind interlaced with icy crystals. The instant snowstorm forced him back a few inches from his position and he watched his Life Counter tick down a little.

VEGA: 2500

SAVIOR: 3200

"I'll end my turn." Savior said, crossing his arms and expectantly awaiting Vega's move.

Vega shook off the snowstorm and was poised to draw. _Things are not going my way. I need to draw Red-Eyes to turn this duel back to my favor before it gets beyond control. Come on..._

"Draw!" Vega turned to look at his drawn card.

Spear Dragon. (1900/0)

"…damn." He muttured.

Savior, intently watching Vega, did not miss the dissatisfaction Vega had with his draw. He seemed to be looking for something now and obviously whatever he had drawn was not what he wanted.

_Still, this can help me knock off a few of his Life Points._ Vega thought, flipping the card onto his Duel Disk. "I'll summon Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode!"

A large, blue skinned dragon popped out of the card version of itself on Vega's field. Its backside was blue as were the wings but the front hide was a very light tan color. It stood on stubby feet but had a broad wingspan. Its face was reminiscent of a pterodactyl, long and pointed with small eyes and an overall birdlike look.

"Spear Dragon, (1900/0) attack Shadow Delver! (1500/500)"

Vega's dragon opened its mouth and a vortex of swirling air tore through the space between it and Shadow Delver. The speed of the attack caught the little clouds of Shadow Delver up and shot them off into the far distance behind Savior. Savior didn't seem to mind much, however. Vega couldn't get a feeling for him, with Savior's mannerisms.

VEGA: 2500

SAVIOR: 2800

"When the Damage Step ends, Spear Dragon moves to defense mode. I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Vega said, allowing Savior to make his next move. He silently drew his card and then activated the effect of his Doom Shaman. Vega expected him to call back Shadow Delver and use its effect to take another chunk of his Life Points. He was surprised to see his own graveyard start to glow.

"What the!" Vega exclaimed, holding the Duel Disk away from him.

"You really seem to have forgotten that Doom Shaman lets me Special Summon a Dark attribute monster from either of our graveyards." Vega's mind quickly went and inventoried the cards he had played in this duel. Out of them, there was only one Dark monster that he had summoned and was resting in the graveyard.

"My –" Vega started.

"Snipe Hunter!" Savior finished.

The small mechaniloid monster reappeared on the field, just on the opposite side that he had been at the beginning of this duel. Vega looked down at his reverse card. _With Snipe Hunter out, he can destroy one of my monsters plus have an additional attack with the same monster. Once a turn, he can take down potentially three of mine and the only monster I have is my defense position Spear Dragon. _

_Think this through. Worst case scenario? He wipes out my monster with Snipe Hunter's effect and attacks me with both monsters. I can still use my Fires of Doomsday Quick-Play Spell Card to Special Summon two tokens to defend me. The only problem with that is that without them, I'll have no way to summon Red-Eyes if I lose them. _

_Another scenario? He misses with the Snipe Hunter's effect. Leaves me with two options from this. He attacks directly with Doom Shaman and I'm left with only 100 Life Points and one draw on my next turn. Or he attacks directly, I chain with Fires of Doomsday, but still lose one of the sacrifices I need._

_What should I do?_

Already, Snipe Hunter's backpack was beginning to glow with that mixture of colors and it was already traveling through the cord that connected the backpack to the monster's weapon. Savior stated his target as Vega's Spear Dragon. The large white die appeared in the center of the field as well. After stating his target, Savior initiated the dice roll. Both players watched as the die jumped straight into the air, bounced once, bounced twice and then started to slowly turn and settle. It landed on a 1.

"1! Snipe Hunter's effect only activates if you roll a number besides 1 or 6, Savior!"

Savior, annoyed by the outcome, instead turned Snipe Hunter toward Spear Dragon. This attack destroyed Vega's monster, leaving him defenseless. He remembered his Fires of Doomsday card. The question was whether or not he wanted to use it now to preserve his Life Points…or take away his one chance to summon Red-Eyes.

"Your field is wide open, Vega! Doom Shaman, direct attack!"

Instinctively, Vega raised his Duel Disk up to trigger his reverse card, but he hesitated. His right hand hovered right above the trigger, but he didn't use it.

Savior noticed, narrowing his eyes and wondering what was keeping Vega from countering. It seemed obvious that he could use that reverse card on his field to do something against the attack of his Doom Shaman, but he was hesitating. Something was holding him back from doing it. By this point, his monster had shot out another storm of needles toward Vega. Vega had only seconds left to react. The needles were coming closer. Likewise, his finger was getting closer to pressing the trigger. Then the needles came crashing down upon him. Unlike before, these didn't just strike the ground and fall away. Instead, these individually exploded upon contact. The blasts kicked up a cloud of dust that covered Vega's field.

Savior couldn't be certain, but he believed that Vega had activated his reverse card. He didn't hear him announce it though. The smoke was slow to clear and it was hard to see Vega through it but he could definitely make out his silhouette in there. And on the ground next to him was a reverse card, unactivated.

VEGA: 100

SAVIOR: 2800

Savior thought to himself for a moment. _Whatever that card is, it has to have some good potential. I don't think it was something that would negate my attack or destroy my monster. A card like that, he wouldn't hesitate to use. No, there's something else to that card that he sees._

Savior lined the last card in his hand up to play in his Spell/Trap Card Zone. "I'll play Gold Sarcophagus." Vega watched as Savior took his deck out of the holder on his Duel Disk and started searching for a card. He took the time to explain to Vega that Gold Sarcophagus allow him to take one card from his deck and remove it from play. On his second Standby Phase after he uses it, he can add the card he selected to his hand.

"I'll choose…Gemini Lancer. (1800/1400)"

Vega wondered to himself what this Gemini Monster was capable of but Savior answered for him. "Just so you know, when this Gemini Monster is Normal Summoned, when this monster attacks a monster whose defense points are lower than the attack points of Gemini Lancer, the difference is inflicted to you as Battle Damage. That ends my turn."

_If I can't get to Red-Eyes, then this is it for me. I have to draw Red-Eyes._ Vega placed his fingertips on top of his deck. He pulled the card free slightly, exhaled a long breath, then ripped it from the top of his deck. He let the card hang over to the right side. He turned his head to look at it.

A Spell Card called Stray Lambs.

Vega inwardly smiled at his dry luck. Not what he was looking for but not bad though. _Looks as if I 'might' get one more chance. But if Savior summons another monster, im finished._

"I'll play Stray Lambs!" Vega said, slamming the card into his Duel Disk. "With this Spell Card, I can Special Summon two Sheep Tokens to my field in defense mode. But by using this card, I can't summon any other monsters for this turn."

With no cards left in his hand to play, Vega ended his turn with the two Sheep Tokens that were reminiscent of Scapegoat Tokens protecting him. But as soon as he saw Savior draw his card, he activated his Fires of Doomsday Quick-Play Spell Card.

"What?" Savior questioned as he saw two silver spheres appear on Vega's field that were roughly the size of the Sheep Tokens he had summoned on his turn. Now there were four tokens on his field that were protecting him.

"Stray Lambs and Fires of Doomsday both have one rule about them in common. In the turn that I use them, I cannot summon any other monsters to my field."

Savior caught Vega's meaning. _By using Stray Lambs on his turn, he couldn't summon any other monster. So to keep himself safe, he used his Fires of Doomsday on my turn to increase his defense. But all of them are nothing but delays for time for a man out of time. _

Without Savior's needing to say, the numbers appeared before one of Vega's two Sheep Tokens and another white die appeared on the field, due to Snipe Hunter's effect. He rolled the die and watched it roll and spin.

It landed on a 1.

Savior cursed then pointed to his Doom Shaman, "If I can't get your Snipe Hunter to cooperate, then I'll use the effect of my Doom Shaman! Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Fiend-Type monster from either graveyard or my hand."

Vega snapped his hand down to his last remaining reverse card. "I was waiting for that moment! Reverse Card, Open! Disappear!"

Vega's card flipped up onto the field and in an instant, it glowed in a soft red hue that compressed itself into a beam that crossed the field and struck Savior's Duel Disk, forcing a card out of it.

"What!" Savior stammered.

"Disappear is a Trap Card that lets the controller select one card from their opponent's graveyard and remove it from play. Savior, aside from my Snipe Hunter which is on the field and your own Shadow Delver in your graveyard…no other Fiend-Type monsters are in either of our graveyards!"

Savior smiled as he took the card that Vega had targeted with his Trap Card. "Removing my Shadow Delver so that Doom Shaman couldn't revive it?"

"Absolutely." Vega said.

"But did one part of Doom Shamans effect slip by you, Lamar Vega, King of Games? I can Special Summon a monster from my hand as well."

Vega, indeed, hadn't forgotten. But he noticed that Savior had not made a Normal Summon for this turn up to the point he intended to use Doom Shaman to Special Summon Shadow Delver. Shadow Delver's effect to make a level 4 or lower monster able to attack directly would end the duel for him with only 100 Life Points left. With that monster removed from play, the only way he could use Doom Shaman's effect was to pick a monster from his hand. Vega had no play he could make if Savior did that.

Vega watched keenly as Savior seemed to reach for a card out of his hand but instead stated, "It's fortunate for you that I don't have a monster that I can Special Summon with Doom Shaman in my hand. Instead, my monsters will destroy the two Sheep Tokens and then I'll end my turn."

Vega didn't watch as his two Sheep Tokens were destroyed. He had his head lowered and saw bits of them pass by and over his deck. He was focused on the top card of his deck.

"No cards in your hand, no monsters in play, no effects that can save you. Even if you manage to summon a monster to defend yourself with, I can use the Gemini Lancer that I removed from play with Gold Sarcophagus in my next turn."

Again, these words were heard by Vega, but he didn't heed them with a response. His focus was the top card of his deck. Red-Eyes was still resting somewhere in his deck, but Vega was down to his final options.

The situation reminded him of the end of his duel against Terry in the Battle City Semi-Finals. Terry had brought his Fusion Monster, The Omnibus – Epsilon to the field and had managed to crush his Red-Eyes. Before the duel had began, Vega had asked Terry if he thought it was enough to just beat Re'-Sha in a duel to set things right. Right before Epsilon attacked, Terry said to him that he didn't believe that it would be enough. And he was right. In the following duel, both Terry and Re'-Sha managed to tie each other by managing to bring Exodia to their hands at the same time. In the resulting duel that followed, Terry managed to barely defeat her. But not without his share of damage. He even thought at one point through the duel that Re'-Sha had crippled him since he dueled on his butt. But when he emerged the victor, he promptly took the Millennium Ring from her but then returned it. As he understood it, on a spiritual level, Terry mind-wiped Re'-Sha and left her as a confused ghost in a trinket.

But it was what Terry said to him that Vega recalled at this moment. When asked if just defeating him would be enough, Terry said it would not be. He looked at this new adversary in Savior. A full fledged adult that believed what he was doing was the right thing but to do it, he had to destroy Vega's life. An adult that is supposed to lead the next generation to do better than him was destroying his future to preserve…peace as he called it.

_Defeating this man here and now will not end things. Its going to take more to end this. It'll take more work and more of everything I have to settle it afterwards. But to even get to that step on my road, I have to get these monsters, this Shadow Delver and Doom Shaman off my road, out of the way of my future!_

Vega placed his fingertips softly onto his deck. "Red-Eyes…" he whispered softly. He slipped the top card away from his deck and placed it in front of his eyesight, but he closed his eyes. But he smiled to himself.

"It's in my hand." he said simply.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon?" Savior said, looking at him and making note of the fact he hadn't looked at the card yet.

"I don't have to. I just know. The feel of this card? It's a natural feeling to my fingers. Like joining two pieces of a puzzle into one."

Vega opened his eyes and indeed glared at his Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"My turn! I'll sacrifice my two Doomsday Tokens…"

The two tokens on Vega's field started to fizzle and turn into small, tiny bubbles that floated and hovered around Vega's field. They didn't disappear, they just hung in the air like black raindrops.

"To summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon! (2400/2000)"

Vega's card appeared on the field and as soon as it materialized, all of the bubbles were absorbed into the face of the card. As the card absorb took in more of the bubbles, it started glowing whiter and whiter. When there were none left, the card just stopped glowing and returned to its natural state. Then, suddenly, a sharp noise split the still air like the sound of glass being cracked. Looking closely, Savior could see that the entire card had a crack through it like it was now glass. Another noise and the card seemed to splinter more. With one more burst, the card shattered and a dark shade came over Vega's side of the field. Like a black sackcloth, the entire area behind Vega was covered in darkness. From within that darkness, Savior saw movement.

"Red-Eyes! (2400/2000) Attack Snipe Hunter! (1500/600)" Vega yelled.

The movement that Savior saw started to move more hurriedly. Some kind of light was making its way into that darkness that allowed Savior to see just the outline of the demonic dragon. But he could see something different now, a orange mote of light that was growing larger and larger. Only too late did he realize that it was a fireball that was screaming toward him and his monsters. He had little time to react to the impact of it against Snipe Hunter, blowing the monster away instantly but creating a massive shockwave that threatened to knock him down. Along with that, a small halve spherical shell of fire surrounded the area around where Snipe Hunter once stood.

When it all calmed down and Savior could see things clearly again, Snipe Hunter was gone. Along with the dark shroud that had been covering Vega's field. In its place was his monster, a very skinny, almost skeletal looking dragon. Upon every joint stood some kind of sharp looking protrusion. The very nature of the way the dragon was shaped signified its intent to destroy anything that blocked its path.

Very much the same as the duelist controlling it.

VEGA: 100

SAVIOR: 1900

Vega didn't say anything. He stood with his hands to his sides and staring hard at Savior.

Savior, however, was looking up at the dragon. When he looked down to Vega, their eyes met for a brief moment. But then Vega looked away again.

"Your move." He said, letting his eyes rest on Doom Shaman.

Savior smirked slyly.

_In the last turn, Savior didn't have a monster he could Special Summon from his hand with Doom Shaman's effect. So if he doesn't draw one now, the only way I can see him destroying Red-Eyes is to attack with Doom Shaman. A suicidal attack. I have no cards in my hand, but he only has one._

The thought occurred to him that the only way for him to currently inflict more damage to Savior might be to do the same thing. The thought sickened him. _Not a chance. I will find a way to win and I will do it without sacrificing Red-Eyes._

"Draw." Savior said, pulling the card free from the top of his deck and looking at it immediately. He smirked slightly. Vega felt a shiver go through his neck.

"It's a pity." Savior said, keeping the card concealed almost completely but turning to Vega. Vega could see the green outline of it behind the hand that was covering the name, face and effect of the card he had.

"A Spell Card." Vega said to himself with a small bit of relief. But then he saw Savior's Duel Disk begin to glow softly in a golden hue.

"In this turn, two Standby Phases have passed since I used Gold Sarcophagus. So I can add Gemini Lancer to my hand and I'll summon it now!"

Vega watched the monster appear on the field and knew immediately what Savior was planning. He felt crestfallen upon realizing he was about to lose this duel.

"All I have to do is attack your Red-Eyes with Doom Shaman and then-" Savior began but Vega interrupted.

"Just do it."

Savior looked at him, but didn't issue the attack. "Lamar Vega, King of Games, you seem pretty worthy of that title. But I will ask you directly one last time. You would consider my offer?"

Vega bristled, slightly admiring his nerve and looked Savior directly in his crimson eyes longer than he had up to that point. "Absolutely not."

Savior didn't retreat from Vega's stare. The two didn't say anything for at least half a minute. At that point, Savior closed his eyes.

"After reading about you, I was sure that you would understand my cause."

Vega scoffed. "Whatever books or articles you might've read about me were completely wrong then. Nothing that you offer interests me."

"I suppose not. Of course, I haven't disclosed all the purposes, methods and history of the Shang Dynasty. If you were to hear them, I'm certain you'd change your mind."

"I doubt it." Vega said in a resolute tone. "But I love a good story."

"No, I do believe you would be swayed. But if you're not willing to listen, I won't allow you to walk away with information like that. I have people to look after and decisions to make."

"Let me ask you something, Savior. Despite what it is you're hiding, I want to ask you. Do you have kids?"

Savior closed his eyes for a brief moment, but then opened them again. "_Had_ kids."

"You had kids…so you know what its like to father a child." Vega said quietly, but the quietness in his voice gave way to a shouting rage. "In that case, you're might be the most despicable, vile and irresponsible parent I've ever met in my life!"

Vega clenched a fist and pointed it at Savior threateningly. "Parents are supposed to nurture their kids, bring them up with love, teach them responsibility. I don't see much evidence of that within you."

Savior disregarded the boundries of his duel field and stepped forward past his monster. Slowly, he crossed over past the midway point of the field, speaking as he went.

"Lamar Vega. You are a teenager. In the first stages of your life, deciding what you want to do with the rest of the time you've been granted to live. What would you possibly know about how to raise someone?"

With those words, Vega's memory touched on his time spent in an orphanage. Time he spent alone with no real friends and also no real parents to call his own. Something that he wanted more than anything else. He never knew of his real parents, just that they apparently threw him away. To see someone else do the same to others infuriated him.

"Not much." Vega admitted, "But I do know that the way you go about 'saving the world' is pathetic. You're no hero. You talk about being a leader and some kind of saint. Or 'Savior'. Don't make me laugh! You sacrificed the future of others to save the past!"

Savior exhaled a long, slow, deliberate breath. He looked over to his left, seemingly like he was looking at the scar that made up a good portion of his left eye.

"Lamar Vega, you don't know anything of sacrifice." He growled fiercely. He looked down at his left hand, tightly enclosed in a fist. "You don't know a damned thing of real sacrifice."

"You face is a petty comparison to my future that you're trying to destroy."

"Face?" Savior gave up a series of dry laughs that sounded more like coughs. Vega had noticed that his demeanor and tone had changed significantly. He seemed less like the man that sort of casually introduced himself as the mastermind behind the museum robbery. And more like what he actually was, a complete stranger to Vega. An unknown that he had no idea of what he was capable of. A threat.

"Don't insult me with a remark like that. This scar on my face is a reminder of what kind of father I was. And a reminder of what I went through to become who I am today."

"You're nothing but a fraud and a coward."

"You say I'm destroying your future, Lamar Vega…In order to have a future, it is built upon the foundations of the past. Heh, you have no such foundation, orphan."

Vega cringed internally. He knew about his orphan hood.

"Because I know what your foundation, your past, is all about."

"What?"

From beneath his jacket, Savior produced a manila envelope that he waved in the air. "Data and information I managed to collect about you, Lamar Vega, King of Games. Don't insult me. I am a leader, a general. I don't go to a battle without knowing all that I can know about my enemy, even if I wanted to turn that enemy to an ally. In this folder…is a key to your past, Lamar Vega. Who your parents were. What your parents are. And most importantly, why you were abandoned. It is a truly sad story once you sit and read it and I truly pity you."

Vega scoffed at him, not interested in his pity. "What makes you think I believe you or whatever is in that?"

Out of the folder, Savior produced a long, rectangular piece of paper that Vega recognized immediately. His eyes opened wide.

"T-That's my…"

"A check from an anonymous sender to you, Lamar Vega. Pretty big amount of 6,000.00 US dollars. If I'm not mistaken, this is the very check you used to leave your orphanage and travel here to Japan a few years ago, right?"

Vega responded with a question of his own. "Where did you get that?"

"The question you might want to ask me is 'what else is here?'" Savior said. "I lead a nation of people, Lamar Vega. I am not some petty thief, if that's what you believe. If I make a move, I plan three moves after that move. If you come at me, I will have more than one way to defeat you or sway you. If you run from me, I have resources available to me that will capture you or keep track of you."

Savior put the folder down on the ground. Then oddly, he put his Duel Disk back into its Standby Mode, ending the duel.

VEGA: 100

SAVIOR: 1900

(DUEL TERMINATED)

"What…?" Vega said aloud.

"I'm convinced you'll come to my side, Lamar Vega. I'm so convinced that I will let you go."

Vega, not believing he was 'captured' at all, asked what he meant by that. Savior reached into his pocket for something but Vega didn't see what it was. Off to his left side on the rooftop of a nearby building, he saw three figures step away from a rooftop doorway that had concealed them. They stood in a line, completely clad in black from head to toe and had masks that concealed their faces.

"You will not escape unless I will it, Vega. I plan ahead of time for any type of emergency. I am the general, so you can't outwit me."

Vega heard some movement behind him. Whipping around, he saw two more figures similarly clad in all black like the two on the rooftop to his side. They had made their way up the ladder that led back down to Suzuku's apartment. He was surrounded, but none of them made any kind of move toward him. They just stood there.

Vega turned back to Savior, who by this time, had taken the Duel Disk off his arm and slung it back across his hip. He looked at Vega.

"Don't concern yourself with trying to capture me. Unless you're capable of taking these men out first."

Vega let a grunt of disproval escape his throat, which enticed Savior to smirk at him in a leery kind of way.

"Take the folder. I have no need for it. But I'm sure once you find out just what kind of heritage you truly have, you'll have no real kind of desire to stay in a world where everyone you see is your enemy. Particularly when you shouldn't exist in this world…I'll tell you this. The real reason I chose you and your friends from that tournament was really just a coincidence. The only ones that really could interfere with my people would be Terry Hairston or Kwandao Kawamura. They were the ones that needed to be targeted. That and their Millennium Items."

Savior moved past Vega who himself was staring at the manila folder on the ground. "Good night, Lamar Vega."

Vega didn't bother to turn around. He heard rather than saw Savior and his men retreat down the ladder. He did perk up his ears to hear if a door opened. That sound would alert him of someone entering Suzuku's apartment. No noise came, just the sound of shuffling footsteps that faded away.

He was left alone on the rooftop with himself, that manila folder and the thoughts Savior left for him to ponder. Was he good or evil? And what did he mean by 'what you can see, yet cannot see'?

* * *

Savior stepped into the waiting car's rear seats and the driver took him away from the building. Inside the car was Rina.

"He didn't accept the offer." she said, stating the obvious as he was returning alone. Disappointment was reflected in her voice.

"No, but I believe he'll turn to us eventually." Savior said, optimistically.

"How?"

"Well, that information you pulled up on him, actually." Savior said, leaning forward into the seat and resting his chin on his palms. He looked at the passing buildings as he spoke.

"You didn't use it against him?" Rina asked, as she thought Savior would use it as a bargaining chip against Lamar Vega as a means for him to join Savior.

"No, I gave it to him. Leverage would not work against him."

"Gave it to him? Why?" Rina asked, confused.

"To learn something that terrible is where you came from, on a kid as young as he might be, it's something that can cripple you. You lose desire for life, for fun, in his case for dueling as well possibly. I'm certain he's disbelieving of it, but there's no disputing it."

"On the other hand, though." Savior said with a frown crossing his face, "That kind of tale could forge a kid into a monster."

"How do you mean?" Rina asked.

Savior shifted his seat so he was leaning back into the seat, allowing it to relax him. "I relate to him, Rina, I really do. His suffering mirrors mine. After I lost everything, I became lost. But I was fortunate to be able to climb back from that hell. Looking at Vega, I feel he could do the very same. But whether he emerges from that hell as an ally, an enemy or a neutral is hard to tell."

"There will be some shock from realizing his past. He might go from disbelief to depression to acceptance. When the time comes for him to take action again, its not a sure thing what he may do. He may join us. He may continue to seek to oppose the Shang Dynasty."

He opened his eyes and looked out behind him at the shrinking image of the building he was at.

"Or it's entirely possible he'll just crack."

Rina looked at him closely. "So in other words, there's three things he might do. He might join us, he might oppose us, or he might just become so depressed he isn't a threat anymore."

Savior nodded. "Exactly. Two of those three possibilities favor the dynasty and I'm willing to bet that he will take one of those two."

Rina asked what may happen if he chooses to oppose them. Savior cracked his knuckles and slowly smiled at that continually shrinking building.

"We'll see…"

Rina cleared her throat. "So what do you plan to do now?"

Savior let the smirk fade away and his face was more serious. "As far as Lamar Vega goes, I don't believe he will interfere with us. I want to know what these others are up to if anything."

Rina looked over at a folder that she had in her lap. "They haven't been seen since the robbery. Or captured either."

Savior's brow wrinkled up at this news. "It's only been two days. They might've just gone into hiding. I do wonder, however…"

"Savior?" Rina asked.

"These people all knew each other from that tournament in the US that they all participated in, yes?"

"That's right."

"I'm wondering if they all haven't come together and are hiding together somewhere. Safety in numbers and all."

"Well, what's the point of that to us?" Rina asked.

"It could hurt us. Pooling whatever resources they have together to make things difficult for us. Like a second home for them."

Rina expressed skepticism. "It doesn't seem likely. I don't think they all are close friends or anything."

Savior fell silent for a moment. He was pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, his way of telling others he was thinking and to please not disturb him with unnecessary things. He stayed this way for a while, slowing inhaling and exhaling deep breaths.

"No, Rina. I think they may be congregating somewhere. And I want to flush them out. Cause dissention and chaos among them. When you're erratic and irregular, you're prone to make mistakes. Mistakes that can only favor our situation."

"Rina, the man that you dispatched to collect the Dragon Bones in the US? I have a new task for him. I want him to begin searching that city for those kids."

"Is it really necessary, Savior?" she asked. "We have allowed people in similar situations to just wander until they were apprehended. You believe it would not work in this situation?"

Savior shook his head in disagreement. "Those situations were not as laced with the potential for disaster as this one is. No assumptions can or should be made about these kids. If Lamar Vega was searching for a way to clear his name, as he was, then the others may as well. Have him begin to search for them. If he finds them, let me know and then wait for further instructions."

Rina reminded Savior that they were scheduled to depart from the US with the Dragon Bones within 2 days. She asked if she wanted them to possibly send the Dragon Bones back to the dynasty and continue the search until it was completed.

"No." he said firmly. "No delays in returning the Dragon Bones. If they can't find them in two days…have him just return with the Dragon Bones back to the dynasty."


	11. Plotting the Course

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

"So let me get this straight, Jamie. Let me understand this." Natasha was saying to Jamie.

Natasha, Jamie, Knowledge and Kwandao were gathered in RJ's Card Shop. Kwandao sat to the side, listening intently to the conversation but the looks she had drawn since coming here made it clear that while they all were in the same situation, there was still friction toward her and would continue to be for some time. Knowledge, urged by Jamie to not chase after Janet, was sitting in a chair behind RJ's cash register. Jamie was behind the counter while Natasha was in front of it, both were standing, but Jamie was leaning over the counter while Natasha stood with a hand on her hip.

"What's there to understand? It's a simple request." Jamie said.

"No, it isn't. You want me to have Clan Prime start looking for _you?_"

"No, for all of us. Me, Knowledge, Janet, all of us."

"Again, the question is why?" she pressed, not seeing the logic. Or even a reason.

Jamie sighed and began to explain. Right now, all that they knew was that they were implicated as the thieves in this robbery by some people that could mimic their faces well enough that police were fooled. The best way to find the real culprits was to actually increase the search. Make it so whoever was posing as them really had no place to hide.

"Thinking outside of the box, huh?" she said.

"Not really, just reaching for ideas." Jamie admitted. "While were here twiddling thumbs, whoever did this to me, to us, is just sitting back having the time of their lives. Probably just living it up with the money they made stealing…whatever it is they stole."

"But what happens if they spot you? Or rather your…doubles?" Natasha asked.

"You come get us." Jamie said.

"And what do you do?" she asked.

"Take prisoners…" Knowledge cut in. "We take them and find out why they set us up."

"Why do we have to do that? Why not just let the police take it from there and just go back to our lives?" Kwandao asked meekly.

Knowledge looked at her. "That's an idea, but I like mine better. You just want your life back to normal. I'm with Sharp, I want some payback."

"No, she's right." Jamie said to Knowledge. "We aren't bounty hunters."

Knowledge looked at Jamie. "But who's to say that these guys just aren't doing this on a whim?"

Jamie stepped back with that question, and Natasha and Kwandao both looked at Knowledge.

"What I mean is this. Why go through the trouble of setting us six up specifically? In all actuality, I could understand Terry, even Kwandao because of their Millennium Items. Maybe myself, too. But I just think that there's something more to this than just a robbery that covered its tracks by framing us. Turning these guys over to the police isn't going to answer that question."

Another thought just jumped to Knowledge at that point. "I mean, what happens if these guys have some kind of powers like Terry and Kwandao have? To copy our faces so perfectly. And we turn that over to the police?"

Silence fell over the quiet card shop until Jamie spoke again. "You've got a point, Knowledge. But what happens if we catch these guys? None of us know a thing about interrogation. I'm 21 years old, but I'm not the kind of guy to wrestle information out of another person."

"I don't think we should try that at all." Kwandao said.

"What DO you think we should do?" Jamie huffed, frustrated with her constant pessimism and intentions to do things that consistently disagreed with the rest of them.

Kwandao, uncharacteristically, stood up and did not back off from Jamie's attack. "I think we should try to catch these people."

"But…" Jamie said, sensing a catch.

"But I think that Knowledge is right that-"

And then, uncharacteristically, Knowledge cut her off, saying she hadn't earned his permission to call him 'Knowledge'. Everyone turned to look at him, noting the cold glare he was giving her which almost hid the small choking noise Kwandao made, reaffirming her of her 'place' in this group. She wanted to do nothing more than just be alone to her feelings right now.

Being alone was how she coped with things. For all her life, she lived like a slave that had a master watching over her every second of the day. A master that didn't need sleep or food, it was fed by a burning desire to hurt. If you press your thumb on someone long enough, they may eventually extinguish a desire to be free. Such was the case with her. Terry and Sharp had 'freed' her from Re'-Sha's influence. But she really didn't know how to 'be' free. She knew to cower away when she was met with a challenge. Re'-Sha had taught her that lesson well as she could never win a battle or an argument against her.

But she was learning. The time she had spent without that thumb pressing into her back let her experience things without the seemingly constant fear that she would be suppressed and put on the back burner. She learned that if she couldn't at least make an effort to stand for things she liked or disliked or believed in, she wasn't much of anything.

"Catravious is right by saying we should catch them. But I don't think we can interrogate them."

Jamie, opposed to interrogation himself, but wanting to sweat Kwandao, asked, "And what do you think we should do?"

"I…I think we should let Sharp do it."

* * *

Sharp, meanwhile, was having an interesting intervention. While on his way to the museum where he had intended to poke around and find out what he could, he saw someone Knowledge had described to him but he had never met before.

"Janet, right?"

The two of them were in an alley that ran between a pair of shopping strips. The two of them were behind one of them. Sharp had kept himself in the alleys to avoid detection and the fact that he found a girl that matched the description that Knowledge said doing the exact same thing led him to that conclusion.

The alley was a rather wide road that allowed for large big rigs to pass through and drop off supplies and goods to the stores. A line of grey doors leading to the rear of a lot of the stores made up the right hand side. On the left was the exact same thing. The roads behind and ahead of Sharp led to large roundabouts for the trucks to turn and maneuver. Those roundabouts led back out into the public streets.

"You know who I am, Terry. This is not the time to play dumb." Janet replied. She had her back turned to him.

"Well, Terry ain't here." Sharp said.

Janet turned, "What do you mean, he isn't here?"

Sharp was about to answer that question but then noticed the state she was in. She had a small strip of dried blood on her left cheek and a little one below her nose. Her lip was swollen. Even with the distance between them, he could see the bruises on her neck and around her wrists.

"What the hell…?" Sharp said.

Janet looked down at her hands and tasted her swollen lip with her tongue. But aside from that, she didn't say anything.

"Did Knowledge do that to you?" Sharp asked, starting to walk toward her.

Janet laughed, coolly. "No, Catravious didn't do this. I got this for…well, being nosy."

Sharp noticed she didn't seem to be bothered by the bruises at all. He didn't know her fully, just that Re'-Sha had dueled against her and made her into what she is now. He had to admit, she might have more heart than more than a couple of people he'd met.

"Well, its good to see you're well, considering the beating you took." He said, amused.

"Never mind that. What did you mean earlier?" she said, dismissing her condition.

"Oh, that." Sharp said. "Lets just say Terry is gone for awhile. Left me in charge."

Janet eyed the Millennium Puzzle around his neck conspicuously. She knew he and Kwandao had some weird powers from those and that with Kwandao at least, she had a totally different person within the Millennium Ring. Was it the same for Terry? She noticed his eyes were green instead of brown and that he had slicked his hair back instead of letting it hang down the sides of his head. And he just acted differently. A little more cocky. Less unsure of things.

"I see…" she said. "He left when the heat got to be too much for him?"

"I wish it were that simple, but it isn't." Sharp said sincerely. "This mess he's into is mainly his problem. His and the rest of them."

"You mean all of us." She corrected, wondering if Terry was just playing with her head for some reason but still addressing him as a different person. "You've got the same look as Terry had at the Battle City Finals. You basically saved his life. It's your problem too."

Now Sharp was curious and asked her what she meant by that.

"If you hadn't helped him, if you hadn't beat Re'-Sha, you'd both be dead."

Sharp thought back to that duel. In one move, Re'-Sha had managed to use Soul Burning to have Exodia literally snap his legs. The pain was something he'd remember for the rest of his days. He played the rest of that duel unable to stand until somehow Terry took control of his body again, and when Sharp took control again, Terry had managed to stand up and Sharp was too.

"Meh." Sharp waved it off. Janet didn't accept that as a reasonable response.

"Meh?" she mocked. "OK, whatever you wanna say, choir boy. What's your name?"

Sharp grunted. "Not choir boy. Sharp."

"Sharp?" she chuckled. She ran a hand through her short hair. "Who gave you that name?"

Sharp was becoming less and less enchanted with Knowledge's little lady friend. He could understand, if only to make her less sassy, why he wanted to change her back.

"What's that in your hand?" he asked, deflecting the question and pointing to the manila folder.

She pulled out the photograph of the crime scene where it showed the two men photographing the case the Dragon Bones had been stored.

"Birthday present." She quipped. "One that's gonna clear my name."

Sharp stepped forward with his hand outstretched, "Let me see that."

Janet pulled the folder away from his grasp. "No."

Sharp narrowed his eyes. "Whatever happened to 'this being all of our problem' and all that?"

Janet looked down at the folder. "It is. You can find your own solutions to the problem."

"I was just on my way to do just that, at the museum."

"The museum, huh?" she said, remembering the man that had gave her this folder and the information it contained. Although he did express his belief that it would get her killed for doing so much snooping.

"I don't think you'll find much there." She said instead.

"Then I want a look at that 'present' you have there, Janet."

Sharp again reached for the folder but Janet stepped backwards and kept it out of his reach.

"Don't be like this." Sharp said.

Janet fished around into the folder and produced two things for Sharp. The CD that contained the video copy of the actual robbery and the copy of the note in a language she couldn't read.

"Tell you what, you can have these." She said, allowing Sharp to take them out of her hand.

Sharp turned the CD over in his hand. No label, no title. "What's this?"

"A video copy of the actual robbery."

Sharp whistled and slipped the CD into a pocket. "And this?" he said of the note.

"I have no idea what that is." She admitted.

Sharp looked the note over closely. He couldn't decipher it. He folded it up carefully and slipped it into his pocket as well.

"What about the rest of it?" he asked, noticing that there were still more contents to the folder. Janet just shook her head.

"That's all you'll get. So let me ask you, if you're on your way to that museum, you don't know much about this, do you?"

Sharp set his hands on his hips, "It's only been a day."

"It's only been a day and one girl has more than a whole 4 or 5 people probably do." Janet said, switching her finger back and forth at Sharp.

Sharp looked behind him then back at Janet. "Come back with me."

Janet raised an eyebrow, asking where he was going.

"A hideaway where we're all staying."

"You all?" she repeated. "As in all the rest of us that were framed?"

"All except Vega." Sharp said.

"I'll pass." She said, smirking. "I get the feeling I'm not really well liked." With that, she turned to leave.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Sharp said.

"Oh, I don't know." Janet admitted.

"Why not back with the rest of us?"

"Somehow, Sharp, you don't strike me as a team player." She said, still with her back turned. "There's something about you that is disconcerting. And I just get the feeling Catravious sent you out like a blood hound to sniff me out and bring me back to him."

Sharp shook his head, setting his hands into his pockets. "Not my intention, girl. You and Knowledge have your own scores to settle. This is about getting everyone's life back."

"Then let's do that." she said, walking a little further down the alley. Sharp didn't try to follow. "Just do it without me for now."

* * *

In Japan, on an airliner bound for the US, a young black man with golden hair sat in the very back of a plane, nearest the window. Not many passengers crowded onto the plane, leaving him with ample space to stretch.

Looking down at his palm, which was wrapped in tan bandages, he only kept murmuring something to himself. Something that sounded like the word 'Bastard'. As the plane rose from the ground toward its destination, Lamar Vega looked down at his wound which hadn't stopped bleeding and red was starting to taint his tan bandages.

"Bastard…" he whispered to himself. "I even have the blood of a bastard…"

* * *

Back at RJ's Card Shop, Natasha had left intending to inform her clan to look for Jamie and his friends like he had instructed. It troubled her slightly to be using her clan mates in this way, but she was determined to help Jamie out if she could.

Arriving at the store lot where Clan Prime usually gathered, she entered and found a few people dueling without the use of the Duel Disks, but most were huddled in a circle, talking among themselves and talking strategy. They were talking about a particular strategy, really.

"I'm telling you, Reverse Trap is a golden card!" one young kid was saying. He was making a case among his friends for watching Terry Hairston use Reverse Trap in his deck and deciding to use it in his deck. The responses were numerous.

"Eh, I don't know."

"Reverse Trap isn't all that great."

"It's garbage!"

"You're just copying him."

"You know, you're right."

"It's too situational."

The one who said 'it's too situational,' another young boy, continued his statement. "It's only good against someone using, say, a lot of Equip Spell Cards that increase or decrease a monster's attack points."

The rest of the group had backed down and were letting the two of them debate now. The other's response was to say that far too many duelists ignore it, or really just forgot about it.

"Forgot about it?"

"Yeah, because it came out in the first set that was released."

"What, the first Starter Deck?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of cards that get forgotten like that."

"That's true." Natasha chimed in, watching all the young faces turn up at her. In unison, they all asked Natasha what she thought about Reverse Trap. She thought about it for a moment.

"It's a great card to me." She said, beaming with a smile.

"Why?" said the one boy who disagreed and believed it wasn't.

"Something you kids all know about by now. Metagame." she replied.

"You mean how everyone else is playing at the time?" he said.

"That's exactly right. Let me ask you guys this…" she crossed her legs and sat down at the edge of the circle. The kids to her sides shifted and turned to face her so now everyone was focused of her.

"How many of you like…Card Trooper?"

"What's that card do?" one girl asked. Among the rest of them, quite a few of them nodded their heads that they had it.

"It's a monster card. Once per turn, you can send up to 3 cards from your deck to your graveyard to increase its attack points by 500 for each card send to the graveyard. It also lets you draw 1 card when its destroyed and sent to the graveyard."

Many of the other kids knew it and a couple had it in their decks. Natasha pointed out that if Reverse Trap just happened to be activated when they used Card Troopers effect, they'd be using it for very little advantage.

"Or even cards like a majority of Field Spell Cards or full decks like the Cyber Darks or Exodia Necross. It could be used as a way to bait a duelist into thinking they've weakened your monster with something and then use Reverse Trap to turn the situation better to your favor."

A lot of the kids were nodding in agreement now and listening carefully.

"But it depends on the duelist too. If you were to just toss it into a deck expecting it to be a good weapon, then yes, I'd call it situational too. But if you built a deck with just a few cards that can take advantage of that card, it turns from situational to strategic."

The young boy who was disbelieving at the start still shook his head in disagreement.

"I still think it's not that great."

This drew a lot of moans and groans from the kids gathered. But Natasha looked at him with a small, soft smile. "That's OK."

"Huh?" he said, confused. "But I thought you just said it's great!"

Natasha stood up. "Yep. But that's only my opinion. You have your own opinion, too, so don't just blindly follow mine. That's one of the fun things about playing this game, it allows you so much freedom to create a deck that can reflect you or reflect something you want to show. Just remember to be respectful of your opponent when you're playing, OK?"

With that, Natasha left their little huddle and watched them begin their debate again. There were still some that didn't believe in the usefulness of that card, but some began to question if it was as bad as they were saying. Enlightened debate among preteens, Natasha thought to herself.

Natasha clapped her hands loudly and drew everyone's attention to her. She stood up on a small chair so everyone could see her clearly.

"OK, everyone. I've a favor to ask you…"

* * *

Sharp returned to the card shop a little past dusk with his new pieces of the puzzle to ponder in his hands. Running into Janet had been informative at the very least. He learned that he didn't care much for her. He learned she was ballsy. And he learned that she didn't seem as bad as he thought. Maybe hard-edged and sassy. But right now, those were pretty meaningless against the stuff she'd given him. He was eager to learn what was on that CD.

Stepping into the doorway and inside the shop, he was greeted by the sight of Jamie and Knowledge conversing, along with Kwandao. They all looked up at his return.

"At least you made it back." Jamie said, picking himself up and standing so he could stretch his limbs.

Sharp ignored the barbs he was coming to expect from Jamie every time he was in his presence. "But this time, I've got something we may be able to use."

Jamie, Knowledge and Kwandao grouped around Sharp to see what the CD contained as he loaded it into RJ's computer. After a moment, a prompt appeared and asked if the user wished to open the video file on the CD. Sharp clicked 'ok' and a second later, a media player opened and they all watched in silence. When Janet made a copy of this video, it came with all four views available to the guard booth loaded and shown in a quad-view. All four cameras played back at the same time, showing what was happening all around the outside of the museum. They saw how quickly and efficiently they dispatched the security stationed outside the museum. Once they had opened up the case containing the items they were looking for, Sharp paused the video.

"What is that?" he said aloud to himself. He was peering at the screen trying to make out what it was that they were putting into large duffel bags.

"It almost looks like tree bark or something…" Jamie said, leaning forward over Sharp's shoulder. Sharp noticed and barely noticeably shook his head having to be this close to him.

"It's not tree bark…it looks too shiny to me." Knowledge said. Indeed, they did reflect light.

"They might be…Dragon Bones?"

Everyone turned to look at Kwandao. She was looking at the screen as well, but had the note Terry came with in her hand. She raised it up slightly. "This note, it's written in Mandarin."

"You can read it!" Jamie said, excitedly.

Kwandao nodded, lifting it to her eyes as she transliterated from Mandarin to English. The note had a small sticker on the top that she read first._"Inventory – 10 Dragon Bones. To: Millstone Museum of History. Released by: Consulate of the Chinese Government."_

"These things came from China?" Sharp said, rubbing his chin. He noticed Jamie had stood next to Kwandao watching her read.

"What about the rest?" Jamie asked of Kwandao.

Kwandao looked at it closely, squinting her eyes. She lowered it slightly and looked at Jamie. "It's just a bunch of letters and words"

"Letters?" Knowledge asked. He had moved to the opposite corner of the small office and was doing something with the laptop computer.

Kwandao walked over to the dry erase board which still contained the blank areas where Sharp had written 'Who – What – Where – When – Why' on it. Below the 'What' area she wrote down the letter clusters "KK/CC/JC/LV" and the words "L – Transportation, R – John Nolen, R – Harvard."

As she was writing these words, both Jamie and Knowledge's faces lit up. They both looked at each other, mouths agape.

"You see that?" Knowledge said.

"I think I do." Jamie said.

"What? What do you see?" Sharp asked, looking at the words but not getting any kind of connection from them or these word clusters.

"Those words? They're street names downtown. Transportation Boulevard, John Nolen Drive, Harvard Avenue."

"Street names?" Sharp asked. He poured over his memory but he didn't recall many names to the streets of the city. He knew them, but not their names. Yet another little hole in his mind, something Terry hadn't bothered to let him 'know' about. He let out a scoff.

"Hey, come here, everyone." Knowledge called over his shoulder. Everyone gathered around Knowledge and the laptop he was working on. In one window on the computer, he had a website that showed the history and origin of the Dragon Bones, how they were traced back to the Shang Dynasty, their uses as a form of fortune and future telling, and how they were being unearthed in China even to this day. Kwandao made a comment about another name of this people to Koreans, the Yinxu Dynasty. But the other item he had was a map of the downtown area.

"I'm thinking…" Knowledge said aloud and then used the mouse to click on a large space in the map.

"This is where the museum would be…"

He pointed to a street that was nearby.

"This would be Transportation Boulevard. It goes on for quite a ways but it only intersects with John Nolen Drive at this point."

He pointed to an intersection that was a good ways away from the museum as far as the map was concerned.

"John Nolen Drive is a one way street that intersects with Transportation Boulevard. And the only way you could get onto that street is by taking a right hand turn…if you were coming from the direction of the museum."

Sharp snapped his fingers. "So you're thinking that those 'R' and 'L's in front of these streets are turn instructions."

Knowledge nodded.

"So where does John Nolen intersect with…" he looked over his shoulder at the board. "Harvard Avenue?"

Knowledge pointed to another intersection.

"If we're right, they wanted to make a right onto Harvard…"

With the computer's mouse, Knowledge highlighted Harvard Avenue from where it intersected with John Nolen Drive and the end of the street. An area that stretched six blocks.

"So they might be somewhere on Harvard Avenue…" Sharp said slowly.

"Might be." Knowledge said. He thought about it to himself, saying the note seemed to make sense for someone that might forget where they needed to go.

Jamie stood up and moved over to the board himself and wrote down in the 'Where' column, Harvard Avenue.

"It does help a little, Sharp." Jamie said, motioning toward the board.

Sharp was so surprised by the actual compliment he, uncharacteristically, let his mouth hang open with shock. Jamie saw it out of the corner of his eye. His own mouth opened to snap at him, but he thought better of it. _Maybe its better I don't. I was the one against him going out and that little trip got us something pretty valuable._ Jamie thought somberly to himself and resolved to at least try to be at least a little more humble to Sharp.

"Well, its something at this point." Sharp said, rubbing his chin. "But I'm wondering what those letters mean, now."

Kwandao had been pretty quiet this whole time. Sharp looked over at her and asked her what her problem was. She looked up and seemed to be thinking pretty hard about something.

"I'm trying to figure something out." she said.

"What? About those clusters of letters?" Jamie asked.

"No. About this word." she flipped the note around so everyone could see. In the bottom left corner of the note, there was a small bit of writing there.

"What's it mean?" asked Knowledge.

Kwandao was slow to answer. "It a word that doesn't really translate to English. The closest thing might be something like…" she closed her eyes to think for a moment. "Something like…liberator."

"Liberator?" Sharp said, looking at the ceiling.

"Liberator…or savior. Something like that."

Knowledge looked at the map on his computer screen. _Well, now we're getting somewhere._

"All right, let's go over this." Jamie said, standing up and going over to the board. "We know what got stolen, these Dragon Bones as they're called. We know where they might be, somewhere on Harvard Avenue. We know who, these six imposters that mirrored our likenesses so well."

"That leaves the when…and the best one…" Sharp said.

"Why?" Jamie finished, nodding at Sharp.

"I've been looking at this thing." Knowledge said, motioning toward the video that was still playing on the second computer. "And it just doesn't make sense EXCEPT to frame us. I mean, they did this so flawlessly and cleanly. Not one of those cameras caught them with their masks off until they took them off intentionally. Especially the one with Terry looking right at the camera and removing his mask on purpose."

"It sounds like a ploy." Jamie admitted.

"A ploy?" they all said in unison.

"Yeah. You get your enemy to look in one direction when they should be looking in another. Instead of looking for someone that matches the description from those cameras, why not send off the search parties for six specific individuals?"

"But again, why?" Jamie asked aloud. "Why steal these Dragon Bones? Why set us up? Why?"

"We don't know enough to answer that." Knowledge said, flatly.

"Oh, we'll know soon enough…" Sharp said in a low voice, going over to the board and placing his finger where Jamie had written 'Harvard Avenue.' "When I go pay them a visit."

Everyone got quiet for a moment after that, and then both Jamie and Kwandao turned to Knowledge. He stood up from his chair silently. Sharp looked at him curiously. No one was saying anything but both Jamie and Kwandao were looking at him like they knew what he was going to say.

"Sharp, we all discussed it when you were gone." He started.

"Discussed 'it?' Discussed what?" Sharp interrupted, not liking where this was heading already.

"We want you to get whatever you can out of these guys." Knowledge said.

Sharp screwed up his face into a questioning look. He was confused.

"Bottom line is," Knowledge said, "None of us could probably force anything out of anybody. We thought that the one that might have the best success at it might be you."

Sharp nodded his head with a small smirk on his face.

"What's funny?" asked Jamie.

"Oh, nothing's funny." Sharp said quietly, but deliberately cracking his knuckles. "There'll be no smiles to go around for them when it's over."

* * *

The Shang Dynasty were one of the early civilizations of people. Large groups of people tend to congregate in certain areas and they were no different. The capital city of the ancient Shang was in an area of China at the time called 'Yinxu' or simply, 'Yin'. It is because of this that the Shang Dynasty is also referred to as the Yin Dynasty by the Japanese and Koreans.

Although their former capital city was destroyed by time, the people of the current Shang had made their own, new capital city. Out of sight of the eyes and ears of others but close enough to their former capital city of Yin for sentimentality. Within a mountain, they had carved out a life that kept them sheltered from the elements and other people. They had food, water, electricity and computers, doctors and healthcare, vehicles and money. They were just disconnected from the rest of the world for their cause and their beliefs.

This new capital city, which had come to be called Great Shang, was located near Yin and was a private area all to themselves. In the city's capital building was where their leader and general resided because all the citizens, except children, were called on to do whatever they could to support the cause. The young adults were sent out on missions across the world, the middle aged typically served as lieutenants in the field. Older ones spent their time exploring the internet and collecting information. And the elderly sometimes served in a medical capacity or simply watched over the children while those younger than they did their part.

It was in the capital building that their general was mulling over a problem. Savior sat in a small office that was dimly lit by fluorescent lights and illuminated more by a bevy of small candles placed throughout the area. He was hunched over a small map of the Millstone City area, looking intensely at it though at nothing in particular.

_None of the rapiers report seeing any of these kids at their homes. Which is somewhat understandable. You are being sought, you don't go to the places where you frequent. But that's the odd thing..._

Savior stood up and paced.

_If you're being hunted, you are thinking only of survival and evasion. Survival and evasion. In this, the hunted may have an advantage. I, the hunter, must look from place to place, seeking out my quarry. My quarry could be evading me while I search. How do you bring the quarry out into the open field? _Savior stroked his chin, trying to think. So far, the search for Terry and the rest had been fruitless. He really just disappeared. Along with the rest of his comrades. They were well hidden, and would not give up their hiding places without a good reason. There would have to be a good reason for one being hunted to be coerced out into the open.

He was aware that the Dragon Bones would be en route back to the dynasty within two days now. Once they were returned, he would ensure they were hidden and sealed away somewhere where no one would be able to find them. His mind and eyes wandered over to another table where large dusty books and old journals sat open with his own notes scattered through them. A good portion of his time had been spent searching for some particular research in the old days of the dynasty.

He knew the old tales well. About how the 10 demons wrought havoc on the entire world. It was his own people, the Shang Dynasty, that brought them together here and using techniques long forgotten and forbidden, sealed them into 10 Dragon Bones of their times. This wasn't without a high price. As the story goes, any able and capable adult at that time was necessary. Man, woman and elders alike, they all were required to help. Whatever method they used to banish the 10 demons, they all paid with their lives for it. An entire nation lost all their people.

Except the children.

A nation of kids to lead themselves, govern themselves, feed themselves was born. Of course, the rest of the world was appreciative of the work of his people that seems to have been kept secret. They rebuilt their own lands, went on with their lives as they should have.

Savior often wondered how a nation of kids worked. He found no kind of notes about that. It was sort of a lost period in the Shang Dynasty, right after everyone died. He assumed no one wanted to be a bookkeeper when they had to do the things their parents would've usually done for them. Most of the population came from farmers and other kinds of agricultural backgrounds, but even higher class and royalty were put into the same situation as the less privileged. _Kids among kids_, Savior thought, _might not keep the social class distinctions their parents had protected without them there_.

He wanted the Dragon Bones back in his possession for two reasons. One, keep them away from Terry and Kwandao. If they got ahold of them, they might unwittingly release the demons in the Dragon Bones and put them all back into the same situation the world was in centuries ago. He didn't understand the full abilities of the Millennium Items. He knew their story, though. Their creation spawned by the desire of a pharaoh to use a monster born from a girl's hatred. The ring and puzzle were the exceptions. The Millennium Ring sealed away the girl's mind while the puzzle was used to control her monstrous body called Exodia. The second reason being that he wanted to destroy those Dragon Bones once and for all. That was what he was researching as well, seeing if there was a way to destroy these things. So far, his work wasn't coming far. No records showed just how the demons were sealed into the Dragon Bones to begin with, much less how to destroy them.

Savior shook his head. He was getting off track. He was trying to figure out how to catch Terry. He had thought about traveling to the U.S. to do that, but by the time he had arrived, the Dragon Bones would be on their way back to China. It'd be a wasted trip in a sense with only two days to go.

But with that in mind, he had a breakthrough. He remembered going to Japan, seeing Lamar Vega and how adamant he was on clearing his name. If he went to those others, he would be the one thing they would want and would be tempted to leave their hiding place.

"Heh, what I need is bait." Savior said to himself, not lost on how such a complex line of thought led to such a simple solution.


	12. Sharp vs Janet

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

In Suzuku's apartment, she had returned from searching the streets for Lamar Vega. She didn't really hope to find him in her heart of hearts but she had to try. If only to live to that hope that if she found him, they could explain what it was that was bothering him together. Now she sat at the desk where Vega was not more than a few hours ago probably, going over the papers he'd left.

The document on the very top was a birth certificate, showing Lamar Vega's date of birth, weight, and other such relevant information. His mother's name was stated as Melody Vega.

Another document was a copy of a social security card, state driver's license and passport of a man named Quentin Jones Vega. In the picture on his driver's license, he had a rough looking thick beard and was fairly dark skinned. Short curly black hair framed his top but the eyes he had were his most distinguishable feature. They had a vacant look, even in a picture. It seemed like he was looking past you at something behind you, never at you. An age of 42, 6'0" tall, 194 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

The next document was the picture of a fairly cute looking woman. She wasn't as dark skinned as Quentin, more of a caramel color. Similar to Lamar. This one had a picture ID with a sheet that listed all her critical information next to it. That sheet was actually a medical file. Michelle Joy Vega. Her maiden name being Michelle Joy Aukerman. 5'5" tall, 126 pounds with light brown eyes and brown hair that was highlighted with some blond accents. Her age was listed as 41.

There were various other documents that related to those two on the desk. The one that was the most important probably was a marriage license for Quentin Jones Vega and Michelle Joy Aukerman, making them husband and wife.

Among these documents was another birth certificate. This one for a Melody Vega, the daughter of Michelle and Quentin yet possessed the same name as Lamar's mother. No other information was there for this girl with the exception of two other documents. The most damning ones.

One was a form that placed her son, Lamar Vega, in the custody of the state until the age of 15. In other words, making him an orphan. The document had all her information as well as an order to NOT inform her son of her name and location without court permission. This is a little unusual as it is common for some orphans to want to reach out and contact their biological parents as they grow older. But this one was barred from doing so by a court order. That court order referred to the document that had been badly damaged, crumbled up and slightly torn, probably by Vega.

This was a copy of a court recorder's report with Melody Vega as the plaintiff with Michelle Joy Vega as a witness and Quentin Jones Vega as the defendant. The charges included assault, allegations of drug abuse by the defendant and the main case, the rape of Melody Vega by Quentin Vega. There was something written in the report that had been highlighted. An exchange between Melody Vega and the state's prosecuting attorney.

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Miss Vega, you've said clearly that your father abused and raped you._

MELODY VEGA: _Yes._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Can you tell the court what kind of man your father is now?_

MELODY VEGA: _He's...sick. He only feels good about himself when he's telling me or my mother how much better than us he is. How we can't survive without him._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Did he drink?_

MELODY VEGA: _Yes._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _How much?_

MELODY VEGA: _(a pause) At least twice a day._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Did he use drugs?_

MELODY VEGA: _Yes._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _How did that make you feel?_

MELODY VEGA: _(a pause) it made me feel sick. To know that I came from something like that and that there's a chance I could become like that if I let it._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Now, Miss Vega, you come to us in the court pregnant as well, right?_

MELODY VEGA:_...Yes._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Is the child your father's?_

MELODY VEGA:_...Yes._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _What are your plans for the child?_

MELODY VEGA: …_Adoption._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _And why is that?_

MELODY VEGA: _(a long pause. The witness leaves the courtoom. The court enters 15 minute recess. Recess ends. The witness returns.)_

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Alright, Miss Vega, please tell the courtroom, please tell your father, why you intend to put this child up for adoption. _

MELODY VEGA: _I...I hate my father. I've never liked him, but I thought he did love me. And that that love was somewhere in him. But after he rap-...after he did what he did to me, I know its just false hope. _

MELODY VEGA: _I don't know how to raise a child. I wouldn't know how to raise a child like this one with the way he was conceived. It's hurt me so much to wonder why I was given this responsibility. This reminder of what my father did to me. It might be short-sighted of me...but I can imagine every time that I'd look into my child's eyes, I wouldn't see them. I'd only see the man that made them and the event that created them. I don't think I can deal with that. And no child should deserve that from a mother. No matter what accomplishments they went onto later in life, id only be looking at the past. _

MELODY VEGA: _But I can't just end their life before it starts. Abortion isn't the answer. This child is mine too. I want them to be something better than this, than their mother and...and their father. Even if they don't ever know._

P.A. DELLA GUARDA: _Thank you, Miss Vega._

Another portion of the report was highlighted as well. It was the judge's ruling.

JUDGE JONES: _It is the judgment of this court that you, Quentin Vega, are found guilty on the charges of assault. You are found guilty on the accusations of drug abuse. You are found guilty of the charge of rape. Along with your to be determined amount of jail time, I order that you create a fund for this child to the amount of 6,000.00 to be given to the child on his 15__th__ birthday by the state. Miss Vega, as you have put your child up for adoption, I am adding this stipulation. By the order of this court, if you so choose, details concerning the birth of this child shall be kept to a minimum. They will know who their parents are, but never their own relationship. I'd also order this report to be sealed by the state and only opened at your request. Do you agree, Miss Vega?_

MELODY VEGA: _Yes. Yes, I do._

JUDGE JONES: _Then I'll do so. Mr. Vega, what you did was appalling. No words describe it better, yet it still feels unacceptable. Add to it that a child is forever evidence of YOUR surrender to temptation, adultery and despicable morals. Do you have anything to say?_

_QUENTIN VEGA: Yeah, **** you two whores for doing this to me!_

Suzuku could only sob at these papers and wonder what went through Vega's mind. He was the son of a daughter that had been raped by her father. His mother was also his sister. His father was also his grandfather. There should've been no way that he was conceived. He had lived his life as a orphan and had no recollection of his parents. As he had told her, all the adoption center 'knew' what that he was brought in as an infant. But now the truth came out.

She didn't know, if he was standing right there with her, what she could say. What she would even try to say to him. Somewhere inside her, she believed that if she just opened her heart to him, Lamar would do the same thing and allow her to at least share what he was going through.

Her eyes wandered to the side of the table. There on the end of the table was a messy stack of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, Vega's cards, with one of her kitchen knives speared through them. Down the handle, blade and over the tops of the deck, she saw dried blood where he had cut himself. Suzuku could only imagine what this meant for him.

The one philosophy she had taught him about the game was that you should only give up when there's no choice to. She believed that he also adhered to this thought. The proof being that although he could've taken another turn against Terry and The Omnibus – Epsilon in their duel in Battle City, he surrendered. He had no realistic way of beating him at that point. He made a little stir in the world with that, 'The King of Games, of all things, surrenders?!' For him, to destroy his deck like this, it was like he was surrendering his life as a duelist. She hoped and silently prayed for his safety, and that he would recover from this. She did notice, after examining the deck, the absence of his Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

* * *

Back in Millstone City in the U.S., with the sun setting on another day, Janet was doing something she never liked to do. Applying makeup to herself.

She stood in front of a mirror looking at herself. The reason being was because while she could cover bruises on her neck, ones on the face were harder to explain. She put on foundation to lessen the color of some of the more noticeable bruises and to take care of the swollen and slightly cut lip, a light lipstick seemed to do enough. She gathered her things and left out the bathroom.

Earlier in the day, through the cell phone she had lifted from Xavier, she'd gotten a little message from whomever it was she had to thank for her bruises and her information as well. The hair that had been recovered from the scene had been analyzed and whatnot. What was interesting was that it didn't match with her or Terry or Catravious or any of them. Although, as far as she knew, none of them had any kind of police records so there shouldn't have been anything for them to match. But apparently, it flagged something for the International Criminal Police Organization. Now she was just as confused as before.

_How in the world did I go from being a wanted criminal to being framed by some guy or girl that Interpol is looking for? And just how did that guy know I had Xavier's phone? Just what the hell is going on here?_

As she had been told, the six of them were still being sought, but now, due to this new evidence, only for questioning. That didn't make her as happy as she might have though it should have. Probably because she was still being sought for something she didn't do, even though now, there were some that believed it. But you wouldn't know with the local media still pumping the air waves with the same trash about them. But now there was some kind of hope now that she could come out of this a winner and she was more determined than ever to set it straight. But this had come to a point where she couldn't do it alone anymore. She was going to need help.

She came to a stop outside of her destination, RJ's card shop. Through the closed blinds and the dimming light of the day, she swore she could see movement inside the store somewhere. Good, she thought to herself.

Walking up to the door, she gave it three sharp raps. When no one came to answer at the door, she yelled, "The Truth sent me!"

She honestly didn't know who or what that was, but hoped it would get someone out to the door. She was not expecting the man that came to answer. Janet stared at Knowledge and the two of them looked at each other with different looks on their faces. Knowledge with a look that somehow mixed disbelief and shock with a grimace. Janet with a look of boastful glee contained within a smirk and a rolling of her eyes.

"Hi there, Catravious." She said in a sarcastically sweet way, gliding past him and into the store. She was aware as she moved, his narrowed eyes followed her. She walked into the main area of the store and was met with a sight she wasn't expecting herself. She readily expected to see Jamie and Terry. Or 'Sharp' as he said. But she wasn't expecting Kwandao Kawamura. The two of them glanced at each other with genuine surprise to see the other there.

"I thought you weren't for team activities." Sharp said with a big smile on his face. "And that I was just a lackey out to bring you to Knowledge."

Janet looked behind her at Knowledge, who was standing a few feet behind her. "I don't know about you and Catravious…but I can be a team player for as long as it's beneficial."

"'As long as it's beneficial'" Jamie said mockingly, "Beneficial to who?"

Janet shrugged her shoulders. "Does it really matter so long as we achieve the end result? Clearing our names?"

Jamie scowled at her. "And what about after that?"

"Life goes on." Janet said, taking her deck from its holster and shuffling it idly. "You go about your business. I go about my business. Kwandao goes about her business." She looked at Sharp. "Whoever you are, you go about your business."

"And me?" Knowledge piped up from behind her in a cold tone.

"What about you?" Janet dismissively asked, not turning to face him. "You're your own man."

Kwandao watched in stunned silence. She hadn't met with Janet Rush ever since she and Re'-Sha dueled toward the end of Battle City. She was so different from the girl she remembered and pleaded with to help her. That Janet was kind and gentle but willing to stand up to Re'-Sha. This girl in front of her now? She didn't seem kind. And she knew for certain she was not gentle. Re'-Sha had tainted Janet's heart with the cold malice and spite she had had within her own.

As she had heard from Sharp and Knowledge, she wasn't nearly as bad as Re'-Sha. Cold and violent, but not vindictive, manipulative and murderous like Re'-Sha was. But that only worried Kwandao. Sometime soon, she would have to sit and talk with her.

"Let's not go there right now." Sharp said, interrupting Knowledge and Janet.

Janet walked forward toward Sharp. "I've got something you all might like to hear." No one said anything so she continued by telling them all of the conversation she had with her mysterious 'friend'. They were no longer the real targets but they were still wanted. And now, it seemed that whoever was behind it was a internationally known criminal. The heat, really, had just eased up a little for them.

All of a sudden, everyone heard a door open and slam shut quickly. Everyone turned toward the hallway that led to the outside door, where Knowledge had been standing but was no longer there. Janet, who was the closest one to the windows, peeked out through them to see Knowledge standing just in front of the door. He had his arms crossed, eyes closed but he seemed really upset. From their prospective points, the two of them crossed eyes once more. Abruptly, he turned and started walking away from the store.

"Hmph." Janet said, walking back toward the group. She jacked a thumb toward the window. "Catravious needed some air, I guess."

"He spent a while locked up in his house probably because of you." Jamie said softly.

"So what?!" she yelled, surprising them all. "I heard what he said. I went out there to beat Re'-Sha and he had absolutely no faith in me. Of all people, Terry was the only one to back me fully!"

Jamie was about to open his mouth to say something. Janet saw it and pointed a accusing finger at him. "Not one word! You were against me, too, Jamie!"

"No, I wasn't!" Jamie pleaded.

"Then let me quote you, word for word. When Terry asked you if you thought I could win, what did you say? You said 'Re'-Sha can beat Janet. Flat out.' Right?"

Jamie, completely foiled, just stared down at the ground.

"You all probably back Catravious when he says I need to be changed back. What about me? What if I didn't want to go back to being some spineless sap? Heh, who WANTS to go back to that?"

Janet balled her hand into a fist and let it slam against the near wall. "You listen good, Terry. Or Sharp, whatever you're calling yourself or whatever you are. You too, Kwandao, Jamie. The very second one of you tries to 'make me normal' again? I'm going to kill you."

Everyone in the room was dead silent. Everyone believed her. Except one.

"You're going to kill me?" Sharp said, stepping forward and sounding quite humored by the idea.

Jamie and Kwandao both looked at Sharp thinking pretty much the same thing. Janet may have gone too far in promising to try to kill someone that wasn't really afraid to kill himself.

"You know," Sharp said, stepping forward to stand over the top of Janet. "There's only been one woman that's intimidated me. You're not even close to her level."

"If you insist on it, Sharp, I'll show you just how dangerous I might be." Janet said slowly, having to have to look up at him but not blanching in his stare or wavering in her threats.

"But if you just leave it alone, then we're cool." She said, stepping back and offering him a small smirk and a wink.

Sharp scoffed and turned away from her. Janet, sensing the opportunity, dashed forward toward his back. Grabbing his left arm with her right hand, she twisted it with everything she had and bent it behind his back so his hand was almost touching the back of his neck. The typical restraining move used by a lot of law enforcement officers. Deftly, with her left knee, she bent down and forced her knee into the back of Sharp's leg. His leg gave way and with his attentions on the arm she was twisting, he fell to the ground. Not releasing her grip, Janet tumbled down with him but scrambled around to his front. She retained her grip on his arm, but with her shin, she leaned down into the back of Sharp's neck. She was a short woman but it was not easy to lift close to 110 pounds from the neck. She felt him writhe beneath her trying to get up but she had him pinned down very well.

"But don't you ever underestimate me again." Janet said close to Sharp's ear, not letting him up. She leaned a little more of her weight into his neck for emphasis. Sharp's response was to let out a deep growl from within his throat.

"Grr…likewise!" he screamed. Without warning, the Millennium Puzzle that was laying off to the side of Sharp became illuminated like someone turning on a light switch within it. A yellow glow filled the room and illuminated the low lighted store, accompanied by Sharp's constant grunting and straining.

"What the?!' Janet yelped.

"Raaagh!" Sharp growled, turning his head to the side. His eyes, when they were normal, were green. Now his entire eye socket was filled with the same light that was pouring out of the puzzle. He had no irises, but he seemed to be looking back over his shoulder at Janet. When they made contact, Janet's body seized up. In that instant, she lost control of her body. Her brain was sending signals to her hands and feet to move, but they refused to. She also found herself floating just slightly above Sharp's back, no longer being able to hold him any longer. She began to float higher, but now her arms and legs were spread akimbo and Sharp was now standing before her. His eyes were narrowed down to slits, teeth bared and that yellow light continued to fill his eyes. A force was putting his body through some real stress as veins started to become visible on his forehead and arms.

"I ought to break every bone you've got!!" Sharp was screaming at Janet. His hair was flying about wildly and even more light was beginning to pour out of the Millennium Puzzle. She was being held in the air but she could feel the force whipping around her, knocking racks down and causing papers to whip into the air around them. The fluorescent lights that were lighting the area dimmed and faded out. Even the ground around them trembled slightly.

In that brief moment, for the first time since her duel with Re'-Sha, Janet felt her mind reconnect with the emotion of fear. This 'thing' that was inside of Terry could rip her apart in ways she couldn't imagine and she'd made him angry. But in that moment, along with her fear, another emotion that she had been reveling in since then came in. Pride. And in her case, with pride came guts.

Janet managed to look down at Sharp, "Then do it!" she spat. "Go ahead! Do it!!"

"STOP IT!!"

Everyone turned their heads toward the voice. They all saw Kwandao run up to Sharp who had an expression on his face that said 'What are you doing?' all over it. But her own eyes had turned to a similar golden hue and her forehead had the Eye of Anubis on it. With a push of her hand, the forces that were just circling wildly around Janet and Sharp suddenly began to swirl around Kwandao for a quick moment and then they followed the direction of her hand, right into Sharp. The result was instantaneous. Sharp was lifted off the ground as if he'd been caught on the wrong end of a jet's afterburners. There was a support pillar in the store probably a few yards away from where Sharp was standing. Being carried by that force, he crossed that distance a flash and landed against it with an audible smack of his skin and head hitting the concrete. He slowly slipped to the floor, unconscious.

That had the effect of releasing Janet from whatever was holding her in the air and she fell to the ground on her knees. She promply passed out.

Jamie, who was in complete awe of this spectacle, watched from the side as Kwandao slowly lowered her hand, the golden hue left her eyes, the Eye of Anubis disappeared from her forehead and she looked down at Janet and Sharp with a sad look on her face. Jamie dashed toward Sharp's limp body and felt for a pulse. After searching for one for a moment, he found it. He walked over toward Janet, doing the same for her and determining that they were both just knocked out.

"What was…" he started to say to Kwandao, but he cut himself off. He noticed that she was crying.

"Hey…" he said softly. Kwandao turned to look up at him, cradling the Millennium Ring in her hands as her tears started to fall and splash on it.

"If it wasn't for me…" she was saying, her voice cracking. "If it wasn't for me, I wouldn't have had to do that. If it wasn't for me, _everyone's_ lives would be normal. _Their_ lives would've been normal. I can't be strong when I'm just a pawn…" she said quietly, letting the ring fall from her hands to dangle around her neck again. She leaned up against the wall and slipped down it slowly so that she had tucked her head in between her knees. Jamie heard her sob softly and quietly into her knees for a good moment.

Looking around him at the chaos that had just broke loose from Sharp, he realized just how much of a danger he really could be. He really had no morals within him. Off of an insult to him personally, he seemed ready to kill Janet. Just because Janet had threatened him, he lashed out with an option he probably saw as perfectly acceptable if Kwandao hadn't had intervened.

And what about him? All through that chaotic moment, he was frozen in place. He couldn't get his legs to move or his voice to work. Jamie looked down at the Millennium Puzzle around Sharp's neck. _The Millennium Puzzle. The Millennium Ring. Nothing but destructive forces that aren't going to do anyone much good. I was right, they ought to be sealed away somewhere forever. Or destroyed. If it hadn't been for Re'-Sha, Terry might never have taken up the puzzle. If it hadn't been for Re'-Sha, Kwandao might not have been in the predicament she's in now. If it wasn't for the item's period…we all wouldn't be here in this situation right now._

* * *

Meanwhile, at a local airport, Lamar Vega made his way out of the airport terminal. Taking one of the dozens of taxis that lined up outside, he loaded his single bag into the trunk and got into the rear seat. The worn padding of the cars seats offered him little comfort between that the hard metal beneath the seats.

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked courteously.

"…"

"Sir?"

"7036 Harvard Aveune."

"7036 Harvard? The old orphan home?"

Vega didn't speak.

"You got it, sir." The driver said, seeing his passenger wasn't going to talk much through this trip.

Staring out the window, Vega felt the car move into gear and drive off. On the plane, he had slept dreamless dreams and really didn't sleep well at all. He felt rested but he had no energy in him. Now, back in the states, he conferred with himself.

_All along, I was someone's mistake. I wasn't someone's unwanted or unplanned baby. I wasn't some child that was taken by social services. I wasn't some kid that had all their parents and relatives vanish on them. I was a mistake._

Vega looked down in the darkened car to his hands. He wasn't a religious man, but he wasn't unfamiliar with the 10 commandments. 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' Or something like that. Something he really never had control over, but he was nothing but the end result of, as the judge put it, a man's weak will against temptation and weak morals. For a father to do what he did to a daughter…for HIS father to do that to his mother.

And then, he wasn't completely forgiving of his 'mother' either. He hadn't even been born yet, hadn't breathed air yet, and she decided to just give up on him. Her adolescence was reflected in her decision; if you think it will be difficult, give up. He was not the greatest judge of a parent, but he was just as upset with her for her decision to not let him know his own past as he was with his father for leading her to seal it away in the first place.

The more and more he lingered on these thoughts, more and more doubts began to creep into his mind. Would he become like his own father? Was he really a quitter at heart? Who was he, really? Where could a man like him find peace from a problem like this? That's the one that really ate at his mind. His life had been changed forever. No matter how old he lived to be, he would remember that very moment when he connected the dots on what that folder told him about his parents. He wouldn't be allowed to forget about it. So how does a man continue to live with himself knowing that under the common morals, hell, even under the word of God himself, he shouldn't be allowed to live?

As soon as he posed that question to himself, Vega came up with two answers.

The man either finds a new path to give his life meaning. Or the man just gives up on life.

For the rest of the ride, Vega figured that these were the new forks in the road of his life. He could only choose one. From within a breast pocket of his jacket, Vega removed a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. His Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

He had destroyed his deck with his own hands. He didn't believe in the heart of the cards or any of that crap. But for a duelist to do that to their own cards, if nothing else, shows any and everyone that they're finished as a duelist. A duelist's deck could be likened to a knight's sword. What's a duelist without cards? What's a knight without a sword? Nothing. Just a man. But in Vega's case, without his cards, he might be less than nothing.

Distracted, he thought about the things he believed made up a duelist. Among duelists, there was a great range of thoughts as to what made up a good one. So there really wasn't one great set of rules. But he believed a duelist is a person that always seeks a greater challenge to overcome. A duelist is a person that doesn't turn their back on an opponent. A duelist is someone that battles with everything that they have. And a duelist cannot let fear, greed, anger, hatred, revenge or despair govern them. Vega had followed these guidelines and they had rewarded him well, helping him to earn the honor of being called a King of Games. But more importantly to him, they helped him become what he thought a true duelist should be.

Looking back at what he did to his deck, in that one move, he had renounced his standing as a duelist and his title as King of Games. In a fit of rage, he let out his anger on the cards that had made his name with. It wasn't that he didn't have more cards to create a deck with. It was that he wasn't fit to be a duelist. His mind was clouded, convoluted. He believed he couldn't focus properly on a duel or, more importantly, uphold the principals he had.

Within his mind, Vega was struggling. The very fact that he was even thinking about being a duelist and his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards at a point like this just told him how royally screwed up his mind was. It was times like this he would've imagined the road of his life. The obstacles he had overcome…living in an orphanage, training with Suzuku, competing for the Duel King tournament, suffering defeat to Terry twice. But this was something that he wasn't sure he could overcome.

He looked down at his bandaged hand, which had stopped bleeding through the tape but was stained dark red. Staring at his own dried blood, the thought of a man giving up on life started to eat at him.

* * *

In China, Savior finished taking the report Rina had on the man she'd dispatched to recover the Dragon Bones. He had been searching but hadn't found any trace of the kids. Now, however, he was being issued new orders from Savior. They were due to return tomorrow but Savior wanted this one last effort from him before returning.

Capture the known associates of those kids.

* * *

Back in the city, Natasha sat in her car, windows down, with a laptop, composing an e-mail to Jamie. She'd gotten something back from her clan about the people he had wanted her to look for but it was late. She really didn't want to travel back to the store to tell him and turn right around and go home. Hitting the send button, she sent it off to him.

Yawning, she stretched out, anxious to get to rest. She never felt the small dart lodge in her shoulder and within moments, she was slumping over knocked out.


	13. A Fallen King

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

DAY 3

It was the scuttling of feet more than anything. From a quite literal hole in the wall, concealed from the mornings wandering eyes, Vega peered out into the street. A side street offered a concrete loading dock that was hollowed out below it. Quite dry and clean considering. Vega's mood was so sour that he hadn't even bothered to find his way home last night, and it was just as well as it was probably being monitored. All he remembered from that night was standing outside of the orphanage, staring at it, and then falling asleep. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, feeling the knots that had formed in it from last night. Looking out, he could see a corner of the old orphanage.

It was a simple, brick building. Two story, but had a few basement levels where their cafeteria, medical room and gym were located. On that upper level was where the kids rooms were. It had a large yard outside that allowed them to go outside and play when the weather permitted. He could make out a few kids running around outside. He assumed it was somewhere close to 7:00. Those were the starting hours he could usually be let out when he was there, weather permitting.

Crawling out from below his rock, he dusted himself off and stuck his hands into his pockets. Not caring to smooth out his appearance at all, he entered the main street, kept his head down and started walking. "Days ago, those people would've been proud to have even known me…" Vega muttered aloud as he passed by the orphanage. "Now, they'd jump at the chance to snitch on me, probably…"

He wondered to himself just what had brought him to this orphanage. He had thought, for a while, that this place was home to him. Sure, he had a house, but home is where your heart is and it was still in that place. The truth was, he was looking for guidance, and one always goes home for guidance. The thing about it was that your mother and father usually were the ones to issue guidance. The thought of his parents physically sickened Vega and only depressed him further. Whenever his thoughts turned to his newly found family tree, he felt an overwhelming sense of self-loathing within him. It was so overpowering that at times, he had to stop walking for a brief moment and try to collect himself right on the street. He just wanted nothing more than to claw his own heart out and curse it.

Coming to an intersection, he noticed someone out across the street from him. Catravious "Knowledge" Collins. Vega eyed him curiously, watching him walk in his direction but on the opposite side of the street. He knew there were people out looking for him and Catravious. Personally, he didn't give a damn if a policeman arrested him. Jail among degenerates sounded fine to his depressed state of mind. But Catravious? It was at that moment that, out of the corner of his eye, something caught Knowledge's eye. Vega saw him turn and the two locked gazes from across an intersection. Knowledge looked up and down the street briefly, looking for cars and dashed across the street toward Vega.

Inwardly, Vega groaned to himself.

"I don't want to hear it, Catravious." Vega instead said as soon as the teen was within earshot. Sullenly, he turned to walk back the way he'd come. He was grabbed from behind and spun around to face Knowledge again.

"Well, you're gonna hear it, like it or-" then he stopped. Vega saw Catravious take a good look at him. He knew he wasn't looking that sharp and he looked just the way he felt, like he'd slept with the trash.

"What happened to you?" Knowledge asked sternly.

Vega rolled his eyes, imaging the lecture he could give to him answering that question. At this point, Knowledge had let go of Vega and Vega stepped backwards.

"My life changed." he instead said simply. He didn't turn to walk away, he stuck his hands in his jacket pockets.

"All of ours have with this nonsense." Knowledge said tersely.

Realization flashed in Vega's eyes as he realized he was talking about the museum and the robbery that had been committed two days ago. A hiccup of a laugh got trapped in his gut, "No, I'm talking something completely different. I wouldn't give a damn if they caught me here and now. I don't care anymore."

Knowledge was looking at Vega and was wondering what was going on with him. His hand was cut up from something, his clothes were looking tattered and slightly soiled, his hair was completely insane, and his attitude was a complete flip from what he'd come to know of him. The man in front of him wasn't Lamar Vega, this man was just some clone with his face. There was something else off about him, but he couldn't place it. All of the other things he was processing were keeping him from figuring it out.

"Vega, come over here." Knowledge urged, walking over into a large bus station for civilians. Its lobby was open to the public and had various concession machines, soda machines and a few arcade games. The two of them walked toward the back, away from sight. When they had a seat, again, Knowledge asked Vega what had happened to him.

Vega, for his part, wasn't giving up the ghost. "Don't worry about it. My problems aren't yours to solve."

"I ain't trying to help fix your problems." Knowledge retorted, his usual disdain of the duelist overcoming him for a moment. He exhaled a quick breath. "But I need to know what happened to you."

Vega lied and told Knowledge that he'd just been in a little scuffle earlier, that's all. Knowledge looked at him closely. While he did look like he'd just come from a fight, it didn't seem right. The way he was carrying himself didn't suggest he had just got jumped or something. And what he had said earler, 'his life changed.' Something was not right. It was right then that he thought he'd figured out what he thought was off about Vega.

"Vega, where's your Duel Disk?"

"It got taken from me." He answered without hesitation.

Knowledge was convinced now and frustration was starting to build within him. Noticing no one was there to watch them at that moment, Knowledge grabbed Vega by the collar and yanked him toward him. Vega came along like a wet noodle. "Don't screw with me! A guy like you just lets their Duel Disk and deck get taken from them like that?"

"That's how it happened." Vega continued the lie.

Knowledge was taken aback at Vega's aloofness about this matter.

"What the hell happened to you?" Knowledge said, releasing Vega and standing up to look down at him. "I could honestly say that the man in front of me ain't everything I thought he lived up to be."

Vega scoffed. "Sorry to prove the hype wrong, Catravious."

"You know what? I can't believe you. I can't believe this is the guy that told me I needed to learn the game more and that came out and beat me in Battle City. _This_ is the guy? You little fluke."

"Fluke?" Vega thought to himself aloud. Where before he would've been insulted, he now considered it fitting. "Yeah, that sounds about right for me. A fluke. Something that never should've came about. An accident. A coincidence. Probably would've been better – No. It definitely would've been better that way."

More and more, Knowledge was beginning to fill with both worry for a fellow man and 'pissed offness' at this duelist.

* * *

"Everybody, up!"

Kwandao, Janet and Sharp all rolled over and groaned, the commanding voice intruding on all their sleep. They awoke to see Jamie standing over them all, arms crossed and not looking really pleased, generally.

"I want all of you to listen up really carefully." Jamie said slowly, and began to pace around them. "That little bit of crap you all pulled last night? Flexing on each other, trying to show who's the bigger man or woman? Kill that."

"Kill 'it'? Fine." Janet said sarcastically, meaning the insult for Sharp.

Jamie stopped dead in his tracks. He was circling them and his position had him facing away from Janet. She sat staring at his backside with his arms still crossed in the front.

"Janet, give it a damn rest."

"Say that-"

"And I know you're not deaf."

"No, I –"

"And obviously not stupid either, so let me say this. Me, personally, I've got no interest in 'making you normal' or whatever. You like being this way? More power to ya. But this isn't your group to run, it isn't your group to intimidate and starting now, you need to get your sweet little behind together if we're ALL going to survive today."

Now was the time that Jamie turned to look Janet in her eyes. They were smoldering with unsaid profanities, but her mouth remained silent. Jamie jumped on that opportunity.

"Don't forget who _you_ came to for help. When you ask for help, you don't threaten them. In that sense, you got exactly what you deserved last night."

Janet continued to eye Jamie unappreciatively, but deep within her, lost to her consciously, was a part of her that agreed with his statements. There wasn't any way that that part of her was going to manifest itself as a spoken apology or an emotion like humility. It just voiced its opinion to darkness.

"But you were being stupid, too, Sharp. What the hell is wrong with you, blowing up like that over an insult. An insult!?" Jamie walked around so that he could look Sharp directly into his eye. Sharp didn't break the gaze, he looked at Jamie with a blank expression but he had his attention. "She jumped on you…maybe teased you a little, and for that, you jumped up with the honest intention to end her life, didn't you? Let me tell you something. Humans don't kill on a whim, Sharp."

Sharp narrowed his eyes. "You're saying I'm not human."

Jamie was quick with his response. "I'm saying you have no humanity within you."

"Humanity?"

"A conscience, morals, a sense of right and wrong. Common sense!" Jamie barked, waving his arms around wildly. "Say that Kwandao didn't knock you out last night. You kill Janet there. And then what? Ohh, you da man, don't nobody want to mess with you, whatever you say goes and if it doesn't, you might lose your life. And for what, some words and the fact you got taken by surprise?"

Jamie sat down on his haunches so that he was directly eye-to-eye with Sharp. "People are mean, Sharp. They say a lot of things that they don't mean. And they do a lot of things they don't necessarily take responsibility for. Sometimes, you gotta let that go. That's part of what it means to be human. Let's face it. You haven't been 'alive' for more than a week, I'd guess. All the memories you've got are from this mess or from fighting Re'-Sha. You know how to fight, how to defend yourself very well. Terry seemed to have taught you well on that. But you don't know how to live."

"How do you figure that?" Sharp asked inquisitively, bristling at this verbalattack on him.

"If you knew how to live, you'd be less willing to take someone else's life." Jamie said simply. He then turned to Kwandao, but she looked at him briefly, then turned away.

"Kwandao, I'm glad you did what you did last night. You put things to an end before they got completely out of control and something happened that no one really wanted to have happen happen. But there's something I want to tell you too."

Kwandao silently kept her head turned away from Jamie but her eyes strayed and looked at him. "Toughen up. If you're going to be weak, you won't be able to survive this crisis, Kwandao. Because weakness is not an inherited trait. It's something that people choose to be. Are you choosing, volunteering, asking _yourself_, Kwandao…to be weak?"

She inhaled a sharp breath and Jamie saw her eyes flutter a little.

Jamie stood up over them all again, but now they'd all risen up with him. They were looking at him with different looks. Janet still wore her look of disdain and scorn, but she had held her tongue for the last few minutes. Kwandao had the look of a woman that wasn't sure of herself. That's the way her body language presented her. She shivered slightly and she had her hands clasped together at her navel, twiddling her thumbs. He could see her wiggling her toes through her shoes slightly. But she focused her gaze and kept her eyes locked onto his. He found that admirable.

Sharp was the most intriguing one. He just had a look of confusion on his face, a look that didn't seem to fit him at all. Jamie had taken it upon himself to practically scold the guy like a little kid. Truth be told, he wasn't sure that Sharp wouldn't have lashed out at him like he did Janet last night. But things were starting to disintegrate around him and his chances of getting away from this were going with it. Something had to be done and he decided to take up some of Natasha's old advice for him and start acting more like the adult he was compared to these kids.

"We've all got differences…" he began. "And we're not going to get anywhere trying to get each other to forcefully accept them. Today's the day that we might get to clear this whole thing up. No one wants the other to mess it up for them so we'll all have to swallow a little pride and bear with others."

Jamie finished his little speech but no one said anything afterwards. The silence was broken, instead, by the chirping of a cell phone.

Reaching into her pocket, Janet pulled out a small cell phone and before Jamie or Sharp could protest, she'd answered it. She looked up at them quizzically as she took the phone away from her ear and pressed a button on it, putting the caller on speakerphone.

_"Now I know you're not alone in there Janet, I know that there are a few of your friends in there. Most certainly Terry Hairston is there, say hello won't you?"_

Stepping forward, Sharp clasped a firm hand over the receiver of the phone and asked Janet in a low voice who was the caller.

"It's the same voice, the same guy that called me before." she whispered in a exasperated hiss.

Sharp wrinkled his brow. _This isn't good, something about this stinks._

He lifted his hand from the receiver, but walked away from the phone toward the windows. "I don't talk to strangers." He called out to the phone, peeking his nose past the lowered blinds to peer out into the early morning.

_"I'm no stranger. I'm what you might call a collaborator."_

"A collaborator?" Sharp said. "I prefer to meet new partners face-to-face." He implied.

_"Some other time. But that's two. I'll guess that Jamie Cantou is around, being the old man he is."_

"What of it?" Jamie asked. He looked toward Sharp at the window and Sharp shook his head. He didn't see anything outside.

_"And I have a strong suspicion that Kwandao Kawamura is with you as well, too."_

Kwandao didn't respond to the comment. Like the others, she was equally wary and suspicious of this man that knew far too much.

_"Well, I figured I should get acquainted with the rest of your group. You all are in a pretty damn good jam here and, unfortunately, I don't have good news for you."_

"What makes you think I can trust any news you have for me?" Sharp said, having backed away from the window and joined the rest of them in making a circle around Janet's outstretched hand, listening to the caller.

_"Terry, right?"_

"That's right." Sharp lied.

_"Chew on this then. I gave Janet Rush all the information she's shared with you up to this point. Well, except that video CD."_

"And? Any random person could 'claim' that. Try again if you're my so called collaborator."

A pause. _"OK, then try this. I know that Millennium Puzzle you carry isn't some knockoff. Neither is Kwandao's ring."_

Now it was Sharp's turn to pause. Jamie interrupted. "Just who are you?"

The voice instead replied, _"I've got two things you ought to know. Here's the first. You might know by now that you were framed. The thing about it is that somewhere in the city, your imposters are still hiding out. But not much longer. By sometime late this evening, they will be on their way to China with the merchandise they stole."_

"Tonight?" Janet exclaimed, turning her free hand over to look at her watch. It was now 8:42am.

_"This is your last chance for you to get ahold of these guys, get the Dragon Bones back, clear your names and have the real thieves arrested. But like I said, they leave tonight."_

"How are they leaving?" Janet asked.

_"There's a private flight from Millstone to the People's Republic of China that's seems pretty coincidental. That plane, and your chance, depart at 11:30pm."_

"14 hours and 48 minutes…" Jamie said aloud to himself.

_"You kids get half a day to search an entire city, but there might be some help for you around the bend."_

"Help?" Janet said.

_"Your little buddy is back, Terry."_

"My buddy?" Sharp asked with sarcasm.

_"Lamar Vega."_

_Vega is here!?_ Jamie thought to himself.

_"But I'll tell you one thing. His little trip to Japan must've been a hell of a ride."_

"Why do you say that?" Jamie asked.

_"Heh," _the voice chuckled,_ "You go find him and ask him yourself, Jamie."_

The line clicked dead.

Janet lowered the phone and looked in the faces of everyone gathered. Less than a few minutes ago, Jamie had just got through ripping them and now everyone was hesitant to talk. So all eyes turned to Jamie. Jamie turned and motioned them to follow him back into the office, which they did. On the white dry erase board, he drew a crude map of Harvard Avenue. The buildings, the sidestreets, the intersections, everything. He was tapping his chin with the knuckle of his forefinger.

"Janet?" he asked. "This guy of yours. Do you trust him? No, do you trust he's giving us real information or just a bunch of bull?"

"I think it's the real deal." She said.

Jamie sighed, then with a big red marker wrote down everyone's name in a column on the side of the board.

"Well, the one thing we know is where they might be, but we've got a time limit now. A little more than half a day. We need to treat this like a pro might. Search the whole street, top to bottom, for our…"

Jamie paused to think of a word, but Sharp quickly tossed one word out. "Prey."

Jamie whipped around and glared at Sharp. Sharp, however, just smirked at him with a disarming smile. "Not that kind." Sharp stepped up and looked at the map closely. "We don't gotta treat it like a pro would. We gotta treat it like a hunter would. Looking for their prey, bringing the net in closer, leaving fewer and fewer places for them to run, tightening the noose. Then we capture them."

Jamie, internally, sighed a little with relief. At least he was hoping he was right to relax in thinking that Sharp wasn't looking to take these guys apart.

"Wait." Janet said, turning and seeing that Kwandao, who had been silent for too long even for her standard, was looking at the small TV in the corner of the office. She could see her shoulders trembling slightly but her eyes were opened wide. Janet stepped over and didn't believe what she was seeing.

A live news report was out about a young woman who had somehow made it to the top of the Millstone Tower, the tallest building in the city, and tied a rope to her ankle. She was sleeping or unconscious or something but was lying dangerously close to the edge of the building.

"NATASHA!" Jamie screamed.

Indeed, the girl, even from a distance, looked like her. She was dressed in the same outfit they all had seen her in yesterday. As much as they all were glued to the images on the tv, a blinking bar on the laptop computer caught the edge of Sharp's eye. Everyone had gathered and crowded around the small TV with him to the back. He stepped back and moved over to the laptop and clicked the bar. It opened a window that led to Jamie's e-mail address folder. There were two new messages. Both from Natasha but one marked 'urgent'. Clicking open the non-urgent one, he read it silently to himself.

_Jamie,_

_Got something for you. One of my clanmates saw something  
__kinda suspect. When they were going somewhere, they noticed  
__a group of asian guys and girls. What got their attention was that  
__they weren't speaking in English, he said, but they kept saying  
__'Terry' or 'Puzzle' in English. The rest was in some language he  
__didn't understand. But no one has seen 'you' out around anywhere.  
__This is all I've got. Let me know if it's any use._

_He said he saw them going into a internet café on Harvard._

"Jamie!" Sharp yelled out, sorry to tear his face from the TV, but he needed to see this too. Jamie was a fast reader. He read the e-mail in seconds. He stood up and glared hard at the screen. Janet and Kwandao had came over and read it too.

Seeing that he'd finished reading, Sharp went ahead and opened the other e-mail. It was extremely short and to the point.

JAMIE CANTOU

TOO SAVE YOU SISTER, SURENDER TOO POLICE.  
AND YOU FRIENDS TOO.

"Son of a-" Jamie part yelled and part growled, wheeling around away from the computer and throwing a punch into the wall. The cheap plaster and cardboard gave way and a small hole the size of his fist swallowed his hand. Sharp's reaction was much more subtle, but no less declarative of his mood.

"What you said about me Jamie…." He said, slowly, but turned to look at the still open e-mail, "You might be right. But I'll be damned if these little rats think I won't-"

"No." Jamie said sternly.

"No?!" Sharp blasted, his eyes open wide.

"He's right. It just looks like a trap." Kwandao said, her face in a small scowl. "Think about it. What happens if we do what they say? We lose. What happens if we don't? Who's to say what will happen to her? We'd lose again. What happens if we try to rescue her or something? No chance that they'd let us up there though the building. We'd either get arrested or they might let her fall. They'd win."

Sharp, impressed by her analysis, calmed down just a little. He tried to take what Jamie said to heart but all his instincts told him to beat the hell out of that which threatens him. But now that it involved a…And Sharp stopped cold. He looked over at Jamie who was staring down at his fist still buried in the wall. _Just what is Jamie to me? An associate? A comrade? A friend?_ Sharp killed the thought. It didn't really matter what he was just at this point. He was still willing to beat these guys on his behalf and worry about that later.

"Then we need a plan. Because I'm going to tell you all this, there's not a chance I'm going to leave her up there."

"I've got one." Kwandao said. "We go rescue her."

"Didn't you just say we couldn't make it through the building?" Sharp asked, wondering how she was planning to do this.

Kwandao cracked the first smile anyone had seen her do in two days. "Who said anything about going _through_ a building?"

Kwandao cleared her throat, trying to gather her confidence about her plan. "We need to help her, right now. But we need to start searching for those guys now. And I mean right now. So we need to split up. Someone goes to help her, the rest go search Harvard."

The only good point Jamie was seeing to her plan was that they, indeed, needed to split up to do this. And while maybe one, two or three of them trying to get up a building seemed easier than them all doing it, being short staffed for a search was the tradeoff.

"Here's what I think we should do. Janet goes out and starts to search Harvard. Sharp, Jamie and I go to that building and get you to the top of that building."

"Get me to the top of the building?" Jamie asked.

"Yes. And then we go search while you go save her."

Jamie liked the plan. Janet liked it too. But Sharp was dubious. "So how do we get Jamie up there to save Natasha?" Sharp asked her.

Kwandao took a breath. "We, you and I, will throw him up to the top. With these." She looked down and quietly touched her Millennium Ring.

A flash of realization passed over Jamie. He remembered more than a couple of instances where either Terry or Sharp or Re'-Sha had used their items to move things they shouldn't be able to. Like when Re'-Sha basically had Exodia lift Sharp up and crush his legs. When Sharp kept Xavier from beating him a few days ago. When that rich kid Terry dueled against tried to dangle them over train tracks. Or even just last night when Sharp used it to lift Janet off of him. He understood where she was coming from now.

Jamie thought about the risks involved, but only for a second. His concern for Natasha outweighed them. It was an on-the-fly plan, hastily put together, but he was out of time.

"Let's get started then." He said, heading for the door with Janet, Sharp and Kwandao trailing behind.

* * *

TIME – 8:55am 14 HOURS, 35 MINUTES REMAINING

Knowledge growled, grinding his fists into his eye sockets in frustration. He'd found Vega, but he wasn't in any kind of mood to cooperate with him. He didn't want to leave him on the streets to fend for himself with everyone searching for them. But he was getting closer to doing just that. He had spent the last 10 minutes arguing with him about leaving, and he wasn't interested. It's like his butt was firmly attached to the bench he was sitting on.

"I'm telling you, Vega. I'm _this_ close from leaving your ass here." Knowledge said, not removing the fists from his eyes.

"You're not my brother's keeper." Vega said stubbornly. "I never asked you to watch over me like some washed out guardian angel."

"Yeah, you're a real angel all right." Knowledge grumbled.

"What's that?" Vega spat.

"You heard me. Sitting here like a spoiled brat because something didn't fall your way. Sounds like someone took the silver spoon out of your mouth and I'm glad they did it! Brought the Golden Child back to earth!"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Vega said, looking down at the tops of his hands that were crossed across his chest.

"Then educate me!" Knowledge exclaimed, hoping to draw out a reaction.

With a dismissive wave, Vega said, "Pass."

"Ooh, God, give me strength!" Knowledge wheezed, resting urge after urge to give up or hit him. Either would've made him feel loads better. "The consummate professional, the King of Games, Lamar Vega-"

"King of Games…" Vega said with a sarcastic tone. "I'll be the first to tell you. I'm giving up that title."

Knowledge shot out of his chair like it was electrified, and literally screamed, "Say what?!"

"You can have it. Hell, Terry can have it. I really don't care anymore." Vega said, his eyes clouding and downcast.

Knowledge's anger clouded his own eyes. To anyone looking, they would've seen his eyes turn from their normal brown and white to bloody crimson. Knowledge, knowing now what was about to happen, tried to expel the anger that was threatening to build; the Dark Power that was beginning to develop. His sight locked on Vega and without thinking, from his standing position over him, he stepped forward and slugged him violently right on the sweet spot of his chin. Vega never saw it coming and his jaw snapped to the left and the rest of his body spilled lazily off the bench and to the floor.

The crimson left Knowledge's eyes and he got his wits about him again. He saw Vega lying on the ground and he wasn't sorry for sucker punching him. He didn't want to have that Dark Power consume him again and Vega had been begging for this for awhile now.

"Maybe that knocked some sense into you because words aren't doing a damn thing!" Knowledge growled.

Vega lay on the ground, surprised by the shot. And of all the thoughts to enter his mind after an event like that, the only thing that came to his mind was, _did my mother have the same thing happen to her before I was 'conceived? A beating?_ With a violent heaving of his stomach, Vega turned away from Knowledge and tried desperately to quell the heaving and keep from throwing up. He clapped a hand over his mouth and fought back the bitter bile that had came up, swallowing it again and feeling the acidic, coppery taste coat his throat and tongue. But through it all…

"My sense of self…" he began after a moment. "My sense of self…is perfect now."

Knowledge didn't speak.

"I know exactly what I am, who I am now."

"So who are you? What are you?" Knowledge asked in hopes of some response.

Vega stood up slowly. No one had noticed their scuffle in the empty station house. "I can answer both with this…I'm a bastard."

Knowledge narrowed his eyes, not sure he understood. "What did you do over there, man?"

Vega could feel his tight grip over the situation he had intended to keep to himself slipping. "Not what I did. What I found out." Vega looked up at Knowledge. "Let me ask you something, Catravious."

Knowledge was instantly alert of two things. First, it was the first time Vega had tried to start conversation. And the second was that for the first time since he'd seen him today, he'd noticed something; there was a spark of life behind his eyes. He was alert of this but was woefully unprepared for Vega's question.

"If you learned something about yourself that completely changed the way you looked at yourself. That would change the way others might look at you. That has messed with your head so much that you're not sure of yourself anymore. That you're at a crossroads where you only choices seem to be to find a new path to give your screwed up life new meaning…or just give up on life. What would you do?"

The complexities of the question took Knowledge aback. Instead of thinking of how to answer his question, he was instead thinking and asking himself just what was it he had saw or did that had changed him so much in so short a time. Knowledge was starting to feel less and less angry with Vega and genuine concern was growing for his health, his body and his psyche.

"I…" Knowledge stammered. "I don't know. I might try to find new meaning to my life."

Vega seemed to be studying him closely, that spark in his eyes analyzing him like the duelist he knew he was and was contemplating his next move again him. But then, agonizingly, the spark died out. His eyes reflected that same dull, not all there look he'd had since Knowledge had seen him today.

"No, you _don't_ know, Knowledge. Neither do I."

Vega walked past Knowledge slowly, stopping at his side and looking over at him. Knowledge didn't return the gaze. With that, Vega stepped past him and out into the early morning.

Knowledge was almost frozen in place with that question that Vega just posed to him. A dread filled his heart as he recalled one particular part of it. '…your only choices seem to be to find a new path to give your screwed up life new meaning…or just give up on life.'

It was that last part. 'Give up on life' that had him gripping his heart. Was he hearing right? Was Vega looking to _end_ his life?!

Whipping around, he looked toward the doors and saw the back of Vega walking away. He knew that the rest of them would be searching Harvard today for those six imposters. Right now, he was on Harvard. But he was a little less concerned about that right now. Vega was starting to scare him, his mannerisms were completely different from before, he had no life in him and he seemed to be talking about ending his life now. Walking out of the station, he started to tail Vega

* * *

Meanwhile, at the other end of Harvard, Janet had arrived. Checking her watch and keeping her head down, she silently mingled with the crowd and started to look for anything suspicious and for any groups of Asian men and women.

Janet was aware that the local news had again put their pictures out on the morning news so more than likely, anyone out this morning had seen her face over their morning cup of coffee and breakfast. Realizing that as she saw a couple of eyes make contact with hers, she found a side street to walk into. Well, as casually as she could make it look for a single girl to walk down a passage between two buildings.

From out of the corner of her eye, she made of the top of a fairly tall apartment building that was less that a few blocks away from her. It was where she'd left Jamie, Sharp and Kwandao.

_For a plan that going to put Jamie in the shoes of Superman, he seemed pretty calm about it..._she thought to herself.

* * *

Jamie couldn't believe he had talked himself into, what he now considered to be a stupid plan.

Standing on the edge of an apartment building that wasn't anywhere close to the height of Millstone Tower. But looking down from there, it might as well have been. A violent shiver gripped his body and he literally jumped back from the edge, back into the arms of Kwandao.

Sighing, he said, "How did I let you talk me into this, Kwandao?"

Kwandao instead of replying dumped him out of her grasp. Jamie sighed again, and tried to relax. Visualizing the feat of just floating up the side of a building as they planned to do sounded so easy in the card shop. Now it seemed more like a crack headed pipe dream.

Kwandao, however, was probably twice or even three times as nervous as he was. It was taking everything she had to seem collected about her own idea but she wasn't that sure it would work. All she did know about it was that it was the absolute fastest way to get someone up there to help her. Because on the way, there had been a complication that they had to factor in. Someone had attempted to get to the roof of the building but they'd hit a big problem. Someone had wired up 'a deterrent' to 'all available access points' to the roof. This was what had been leaked to the public as to why the girl, Natasha, was still just sitting up there with no one seemingly trying to get to her. To that effect, the police had banned any news helicopters or aerial views of the top of the building.

_To protect their inadequacy_, she dryly thought to herself.

So their plan was not only expedient, but now the only reliable method to reach the top of the tower. Something or someone was keeping the authorities from attempting a rescue from within the tower so the only other way was externally. Helicopters had no place to set down on the top of the tower.

The apartment they had chosen was about one block away from Millstone Tower, but a wide two-lane street was between them and the tower. Below, a half dozen police cars jammed one side of the street and a police helicopter circled overhead, monitoring the situation. A good sized group of people had circled the police barriers in place to keep the public away.

"There's no way were going to be able to do this unseen, Kwandao." Sharp grumbled, his arms crossed. He was standing away from the edge of the building, leaning against some large pipes that stood up from the top of the apartment building.

"No choice." Jamie answered for Kwandao, strapping his backpack tighter around his shoulders in preparation.

"I agree." She said. "We should begin."

Sharp rolled his eyes but nevertheless, took his position in a cross-legged sitting position right next to Kwandao near the edge of the roof. Jamie stood between them.

"Jamie, I need you to stand pretty still." she said, closing her eyes and resting her arms on top of her folded knees, palms up.

"Wait a second."

Both Jamie and Kwandao turned to look at Sharp as he stood again and faced Jamie. The two of them looked at each other until Sharp extended his hand. Both saw what they could only call a marginal look of concern across his features.

"Good luck." he said simply.

Shaking off the temporary shock of the moment, Jamie extended his hand and clasped Sharp's in a firm grip. Both Sharp and Jamie smirked at each other like they were the only ones in on an inside joke.

"Likewise, Sharp." Jamie replied.

"Ready?" asked Kwandao, looking over at Sharp who had resumed his position sitting cross-legged on the ground next to her. She saw he had closed his eyes and nodded to the affirmative.

Sharp exhaled a long breath, attempting to clear his mind.

Jamie watched at he stood between the two as the Eye of Anubis appeared on both Sharp's and Kwandao's foreheads. Both of their items began to glow softly and jingle around a little from their necks. He had been briefed on what was going to happen by Kwandao on the way, but it still wasn't enough to prepare him for what happened.

Gradually, Jamie felt himself starting to rise into the air. Only by inches at first, but even this was unnerving. He could still feel the normal pull of gravity against him. It wasn't like he felt lighter than air or anything. It felt more like he was standing on some invisible platform a few inches off the ground. His heart leapt into his throat even though they had just begun.

"Oh man…" he said aloud.

"Just stay calm, stay as still as you can for us." Kwandao said without opening her eyes. Jamie looked back at her and noticed her calm expression. It helped a little, until he looked to Sharp. His eyes were closed as well, but he seemed to be trying a lot harder than Kwandao was. The degree of difference in their practice of their Millennium Items was apparent in that one moment; Kwandao more of the pro while Sharp was the fledgling rookie. It was part of the reason Kwandao asked for Sharp's help, she could probably do it on her own but was hesitant. She didn't believe that she could've crossed and ascended the large difference between the top of this building and the top of the tower without breaking down. With two 'hands' in a sense, it was easier on her, but now it was on Sharp to sweat. As far as they knew, Sharp knew _how_ to use the Millennium Puzzle in the way they were doing now. He just never had. So to focus this long while using it was his own challenge. Jamie tried to push that conversation from his mind. It was doing nothing but making him more uneasy.

"OK, Sharp." Kwandao said, "You're doing good. Now we need to keep him going up, but forward as well."

"….Right" Sharp said after a moment.

In his mind's eye, he was trying to picture Jamie. He had a mental image of him standing and he was slowly lifting him into the air. This part so far was no problem to him, nor was it to keep him rising into the air while going forward. The problem was that he needed to maintain focus. It was similar to a martial artist maintaining a fighting stance. He or she could begin it easily. Their bodies moved their limbs into proper position and stayed that way. But the hard part, the part Sharp was inexperienced with, was maintaining that stance. It required focus and discipline and patience, some things that Sharp was lacking with using the Millennium Puzzle.

Jamie, however was going through his own dilemma. Kwandao and Sharp had managed to push him beyond the roofline of the apartment building they were atop. Looking down, he saw absolutely nothing between him and a fall that was sure to kill him. Gaining that knowledge, it seemed easier to commit his body to not moving since he was scared to move at all now. So he instead turned toward the Millstone Tower he was slowly starting to approach. It was the tallest building in the city and seemed to be your prototypical office skyscraper. A tall, sleek square building that extended into the heavens. Grey concrete lined the sides of it but the whole building from its base to about three-quarters of its length were wrapped with windows. The upper portion of the building had even larger windows but they were not wrapping around the building like the others. According to the way the building was set up, this upper portion was a mixture of restaurants and coffee shops as well as a few penthouse type of apartments. Jamie never had the money to see them, but he was going to get a good look. He was approaching the building and was about halfway across the street and close to halfway up the building, out of earshot of Kwandao and Sharp.

"I'm coming, Natasha…" Jamie said silently to himself.

Suddenly, Jamie felt himself in freefall. The suddenness of it had his voice caught in his throat but just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. He was no longer moving forward but he was again hovering in the air. His feet were planted but he no longer felt secure about this at all.

* * *

"Focus, Sharp!" Kwandao yelled, feeling that Jamie had fell. Out of haste, she had managed to cradle Jamie in the air by herself and was holding him there. "You've got a man's life in your hands!"

Gritting his teeth, Sharp cursed himself silently. Only moments ago, his concentration was broken by the Millennium Puzzle buzzing in his mind. Without meaning to, his thoughts wandered to where Knowledge was and how close was he to them as he hadn't seen him since last night. But thinking about that caused him to break his focus.

"Knowledge is…" then Kwandao stopped. "_Catravious_… is fine."

"Right…" was all that Sharp mustered, regaining his concentration and resuming the task.

Kwandao, needing to focus as well, tried to push him out of her mind. She, like Sharp, felt that he was somewhere nearby and had ignored. What was bothering her was the statement he made last night, that she hadn't earned the right to call him 'Knowledge' If there was any indication as to what he thought of her, it showed through with that proclamation.

"Right now, he's a distraction until we finish here." she said, for both Sharp and for herself.

* * *

Jamie looked back wildly at the rooftop where he could see specks on the roof where Sharp and Kwandao were.

"What the hell was that?!" he said aloud, clutching his chest even as he started to rise again. He was rising against the side of the building, possibly no more than five feet away from touching the side of it. Right then and there, he desired nothing more than to put his hands and feet on something that he knew was tangible and solid and wouldn't give out from below him. Not like the magic or Dark Power or whatever was being used to carry him on this crazy ride.

But now, because of the extreme heights he was being exposed to, much higher winds and gusts were whipping across his body, making it even harder but no less imperative to stand as still as he could. In the back of his mind, he silently prayed for the man, woman or gang that had him going through this to help Natasha. Only God would be able to help them against him if he found them. Thankfully, he was nearly at the top. He desperately bit back the urge to just leap from his position to grab the slowly descending edge of the top of the tower. But as he slowly rose above it, he stepped forward and placed a tentative step out onto the solid concrete and steel and felt his body convulse into shivers. Setting himself firmly onto the rooftop, he felt his knees buckle and he dropped to the ground trying to calm himself. All he could think about for a moment was the ride he just went through and of all the things that could've gone wrong instead of the fact that it had worked.

* * *

Simutaneously, Kwandao and Sharp felt the load they were carrying lighten.

"Is he at the top?" Sharp asked, not daring to open his eyes.

"…we did it." Kwandao exhaled loudly, allowing herself to relax slightly.

_We did it._ Sharp thought to himself, letting the tension ease from his body. He laid down onto the rooftop on his back, staring at the morning sun. _After all that, and the day has just started._

Kwandao inhaled and exhaled a few more breaths. Inside, she was elated that her idea worked. Even if it hit a few snags. She looked over at Sharp, still laid down on the ground of the rooftop. This effort had been a bit more strenuous to him as opposed to her. While she just felt mentally exausted, Sharp seemed physically spent as well. He had a fine sheet of sweat on his face and was breathing pretty heavily. His eyes also seemed out of focus.

"One thing I don't think ever got mentioned…" Kwandao started. "What is Jamie going to do to get down from there?"

Raising himself up onto his elbows to look at the top of Millstone Tower, Sharp said, "He'll have to figure something out. Right now, I don't think there's much we can do for him from here."

Kwandao looked up at the tower. "Jamie…"

"I wouldn't worry though." Sharp said, looking up at Kwandao, meeting her gaze. "He seems pretty resourceful. Heh, and if worse came to worse, he'd probably just slide down the damn building."

Kwandao was speechless for a half a second, but then giggled softly.

"All right then…" Sharp said, getting up to his feet. He knew that Kwandao was watching him closely, and he tried to appear unfazed from his last ordeal of sorts. But he knew better. He felt dizzy and queasy in his stomach. He felt physically drained and if a strong wind picked up right then, it would've been enough to knock him over. Instead, he glanced down at his watch. It was now 9:51am.13 hours and 39 minutes remained until the deadline. The clock was ticking.


	14. Jamie vs Lim : For My Family I

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

Jamie rose to his feet and looked around the top of the skyscraper he was on. The wind was still whipping against him but now he had solid ground against his feet. Looking, he saw massive AC cooling units for the upper floors, a mesh of both plumbing and electrical wiring, dozens of antenna towers and satellite dishes and what could easily be hundreds of stray screws and nails. Jamie didn't pay them all much attention. He scanned the area for Natasha and found her laying on the wide, raised edge of the tower. There was a cord tied to her ankle.

"Natasha!" he yelled, trying to get her attention. She didn't move.

He began a steady jog toward her. Just as he was about 10 feet away as he stepped down onto the gravel and cement, he felt and heard an audible 'click' sound. Even as he looked down to examine his foot, white smoke began to pour from the area where his foot had landed. Cupping his hand over his nose, he tried to feebly wave the smoke away with his free hand to no avail. Even with the strong wind gusting around him, it didn't disperse easily. But through the smoke, he could now make out a figure that was standing just to the left of where he thought Natasha ought to be. He could no longer see her, though.

"Who's that?" Jamie tried to yell, but the hand covering his nose and mouth stifled his voice.

"Hmm. It's not Terry." Jamie heard a voice call out casually.

Jamie stepped backwards and toward his right, getting out of the smoke cloud and now trying to make out the figure that seemed to have been speaking before. He could see Natasha still laying on the roof but now a young man had joined her side.

Jamie had thought that the voice he heard had a distinct accent, much like Kwandao's, signifying an asian. He was right. Loose brown locks of hair spilled over the guy's eyes, ears and neck, though it was neatly kept. A narrow jaw that went with a slender nose, sharp black eyes and thin eyebrows framed his face. His body was also very slender. Slim, lean muscles showed in his arms which were covered by a tight black short sleeve shirt which led down to straight cut black jeans and low top black sneakers. He was carrying something in a backpack over his right shoulder.

Jamie stepped forward, easily dominating the man as far as height and weight, though he may have been Jamie's elder in age. He might've guessed him to be in his late 20's.

"Don't." he warned, walking backwards and placing a hand on Natasha's hip.

Jamie froze in place, his fists were closed tightly against his sides.

"Good." the Asian man said.

"You understand English? You know I'm going to get you for this, right?" Jamie said menacingly. He saw the Asian man dip his head slightly and chuckle.

"How, Westerner?"

Jamie's response was to take one of the fists he still had balled up to his side, raise it up to his eye level and slowly crack each knuckle.

Jamie saw the man study him more closely. "You're Jamie Cantou, 21 years old."

"What of it? Let's stop pussyfooting. What do you want?"

Jamie noticed the Asian's slight look of confusion when he had said 'pussyfooting' but he recovered. "For you to turn yourself into the police."

Jamie looked past him to Natasha who was still laid out. She hadn't moved.

"The girl's fine. She's not hurt, only asleep."

"What guarantee do I have you'll let her go?" Jamie asked.

"None. I am a soldier. I have orders." the man said. He backed up slowly but kept his eyes on Jamie the whole time. When he reached the edge of the tower where Natasha was, he took his eyes off Jamie, reached over and scooped Natasha's limp body into his arms. Despite his slender size, he showed no strain in lifting her and laying her down onto the gravel of the rooftop, clear from the edge and out of danger.

"But I do have my honor." he said simply.

Jamie eyed the man suspiciously. He was getting confused a little now. Before he had come up here, he had nothing but contempt for whoever he would've found responsible. But now, it was being measured against this act that really took away part of the man's edge against Jamie. But only partly, there was still no doubt in his mind who his enemy was.

"Now…" he said, "It's in your best interest to surrender."

Now that Natasha was out of immediate danger, Jamie wanted to try to press this guy. There was no way of telling but he was almost sure that this man was somehow part of the bigger problem he was having with being framed for international robbery. He was Asian and as far as he knew, it was all that he knew about who was possibly responsible.

"And why is that?" Jamie probed. "Are you the one that set me up?"

"One of them, yes." the man replied.

"One of them…" Jamie repeated slowly. He looked around the rooftop. "Where are the others?"

"Hmph." he said in a haughty manner. "So will you surrender yourself?"

Jamie just shook his head.

"I see." the man said slowly, as he reached for the backpack he had over his shoulder. "Then we'll settle this in a way you…duelists…are used to. In a duel."

The man had reached and attached a Duel Disk to his left arm and had it immediately click into place. Jamie eyed the man suspiciously, he had seemed prepared for this and this made him wonder if this was in fact a setup, too.

"I don't have a-" Jamie had started to say, but then saw the man reach behind him again and toss Jamie another Duel Disk. Jamie caught it in his hands and gave it a once over, not noticing anything suspect or off about it. It seemed to be a normal Kaiba Corp. style Duel Disk. Cautiously, he slipped it onto his arm, felt it lock into place and watched the plates whir and click into proper place.

"It's not a trap." Jamie heard the man say, but it didn't put him at ease at all. He carefully inspected it but couldn't find anything different from it and the one he used himself.

"The rules are simple." the man started off saying. "If I win, you will turn yourself in. If you win, you may leave with the girl."

"And what happens to her if you win?" Jamie asked.

The man looked back at Natasha, back to Jamie and then back to Natasha. "The girl doesn't matter to me. If I win, I'll let her go anyway. YOU are the one that's important here."

"Why is it so important for you to see me and my friends jailed? What did we do to you?" Jamie asked in exasperation.

"You did nothing." the man said. "We do this to protect the whole world from something that you can't comprehend."

Jamie scoffed. "Man, I've dealt with centuries old ghosts with vendettas against people that did something in the future that messed with them, God Sight, real life Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters and having my boys at each others throats."

"And you still don't know how dangerous things could become." the Asian man said sternly. "I don't expect you to completely understand. But believe me when I say it's for the benefit of everyone."

Jamie scowled and let out a single, loud laugh, tilting his head to the sky. Looking down at the Asian man from that position, he said, "I know about sacrifice for a good cause. But how good is your cause when it's destroying my life? How just and noble could it be?"

The Asian man just closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "You just don't know. And it's better that you never do. This is a fight you kids don't want any part of."

With that said, he pulled a deck from within a pocket and slammed it into his Duel Disk. "I have orders. If you refuse to go willingly, I will force you, Jamie Cantou. Continuing to seek your freedom will only make matters worse."

Jamie was listening to the man and while his words just continued to irritate and anger him, his speech and tone was confusing him. He honestly seemed committed to his idea of jailing Jamie was somehow good for everyone. It confused him and made him conflicted, as he started to wonder what it was about him that had this man after him. It was like his resolve to regard him as an enemy was slowly evaporating.

"What's your name?" Jamie asked, softly slipping his deck into the Duel Disk.

"Lim." he said simply, slipping five cards off the top of his deck and leaving it at that.

"Then take the first move, Lim…" Jamie said, drawing five cards himself. He cast a sideways glance toward the edge of the rooftop where he had made his way up, wondering about Janet and Sharp.

"Your other friends won't be able to help you."

Jamie slowly turned to look at Lim, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

Lim just smirked at Jamie and that furiously unsettled Jamie.

"Answer me, damnit!" Jamie yelled.

"They can't help you because...you're being hunted."

"Gimme a straight answer!" Jamie continued yelling.

"My turn." Lim said, picking up a card from his hand. "I'll play Sangan (1000/600) in defense mode."

_Sangan..._Jamie thought to himself as calmed himself and paid attention to Lim's move.

"I'll set one reverse card, then play the Spell Card, Spell Chronicle."

"Spell Chronicle?" Jamie questioned as a long tapestry appeared on Lim's field just over his head. The confusion Lim was beginning to weave around him was helping to dispel some of his prior anger. He watched as Lim slipped the cards he had in his hand into the graveyard and started riffling through his deck while he spoke.

"To activate Spell Chronicle, I have to discard all cards in my hand to the graveyard. Then I can choose 5 Spell or Trap Cards from my deck and remove them from play."

Jamie screwed up his face. "What's the point of that?"

Lim continued like he wasn't interrupted at all. "Whenever you activate a Spell Card, Jamie, I may add a Chronicle Counter to this Spell Card. Whenever it has two Chronicle Counters on it, I may remove them to have you select one of the five cards I removed from play and add that selected card to my hand."

Jamie sucked on his teeth. _Not a good thing. My deck does have a lot of Spell Cards in it to begin with. Not to mention that my starting hand here has a few nice ones I intend to play regardless of Spell Chronicle. But now that I think about it, I could maybe get an idea of what his deck is like seeing those cards..._

Lim had selected the five cards he wanted and Jamie watched as five versions of them appeared on the field in front of Jamie. The cards Lim had picked were Advanced Ritual Art, Revoke Fusion, Premature Burial, Ritual Sealing and Level Limit Area B.

Jamie just scratched his head in slight confusion. He'd been playing the game for awhile and saw this card as sort of similar to Painful Choice. Painful Choice's effect stated that its controller could select 5 cards from their deck and have their opponent select one to add to their hand. The rest were discarded to the graveyard. Sometimes, really sly duelists tried to disguise their real targets in the cards. Maybe picking a bunch of normal monsters with no outwardly obvious threats only to follow up by playing the Ritual Monster, Lycanthrope (2400/1800) that inflicted damage to the opponent according to however many Normal Monsters were in the graveyard.

But looking at the cards he'd picked, they were confusing. Premature Burial was a given. Advanced Ritual Art and Ritual Sealing seemed to suggest that somewhere in his deck was a Ritual Monster. Having said that, a card like Revoke Fusion seemed like a total waste. Unless the guy was using both Ritual and Fusion Monsters, that bordered on impossible. Add to this the inclusion of a lockdown card like Level Limit Area B? This guy was trying to disguise his real target, but Jamie couldn't be sure as to what it was. He needed to see more of his deck in play to determine that.

"I'll end my turn there." Lim said, crossing his arms since he had no cards in his hand.

"My move!" Jamie said, ripping the top card away from his deck. He glanced at it, then picked another from his hand.

"Spell Card! Dark Magic Curtain!" Jamie said, flipping the card into his Duel Disk. An oversized deep red curtain with a white skeleton sitting on top of it appeared on Jamie's field. It featured an ornate yet arcane looking base where the curtain just barely met with it.

"I'll pay half of my Life Points…"

JAMIE – 2000  
LIM – 4000

"To Special Summon from my deck Black Magician! (2500/2100)"

The skeleton atop the curtain reached down and parted the curtain which revealed a large copy of the Dark Magician card within it. After a tense moment, the card cracked and spider webs of lines began to crisscross across it. Scepter first, the monster broke through its own card, trailing a spray of sparks from the pieces of its own card. It hovered above the field off to the side of Jamie with its arms at its sides. Jamie glanced at the reverse card on Lim's field with little concern for it.

"Black Magician, (2500/2100) destroy Sangan! (1000/600)" Jamie's monster just looked down at the brown furred, three eyed monster below him. With a little screech, it nervously skittered away from its gaze but the magician followed it with its eyes. At the same moment a spark flashed in Black Magician's eyes, an envelope of black fire burst open at the feet of Lim's monster, quickly engulfing and destroying it. The magician never moved from its spot but instead turned its gaze toward Lim.

"Sangan's effect…" Lim stated, slipping his deck from the holder and beginning to search through it. He rather quickly selected a card, shuffled, and replaced his deck in the Duel Disk. Then he showed his monster to Jamie.

"When you destroy it and send it to the graveyard, I can search my deck for a monster with less than 1500 ATK and add it to my hand. This is my monster. Copycat (0/0)"

Jamie scowled at Lim and elicited a dry laugh from his gut. "Whatever. I promise you it's all gonna be pointless." He glanced at one of the cards he planned to set, Magical Explosion. If it came to it, when he ran out of cards in his hand, he would still have a weapon to fight Lim with. "I'll set 2 reverse cards. End turn."

"Draw." Lim said, looking at his card and seeming pretty pleased. "I'll summon Copycat."

A larger card version of Copycat appeared on the field as Lim played the monster, but oddly, no actual monster appeared on the field with it. It was just the card. Jamie looked around the field. He only saw that card. Something didn't seem right.

"I'll activate Copycat's effect!"

As Lim said it, the card began to glow white. Like a searchlight, a beam of white light began to cascade across Jamie's field, passing over him, his monster and his reverse card.

"Copycat lets me copy the ATK and DEF of one monster on your field. It's only obvious who I'll choose." Lim said with him arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Jamie just remained scowling at him.

The spotlight stopped on Jamie's Black Magician, shining a light right into the spellcaster's eyes. To its credit, the magician didn't move yet again as it slowly disappeared in the ray of light. But while it was disappearing, a similar shaped figure was appearing on Lim's side of the field. When Jamie's monster had fully vanished and the silhouette of Lim's new monster came into full view, the light stopped. Jamie's monster remained where it was but now there was a exact duplicate of it on the opposite side of the field. Jamie looked and couldn't see any kind of visible difference between the two.

"I'll play a Spell Card. Double Summon." Lim said, slipping the card into his Duel Disk. "This lets me perform another Normal Summon for this turn. I'll summon Hannibal Necromancer (1400/1800) in attack mode!"

The card appeared on the field and a low gurgling noise could be heard. As the monster came into view, it appeared as a modest sized insectoid, walking on two legs but had a thick blue skin like armor. Covering its joints were small sets of yellow spines which also ran up its back. A oversized set of claws that seemed too big for the arms they were attached to completed it. Jamie watched the monster appear on the field, but reflexively in his mind, he was calculating. _He summons a monster equal to mine to suicide it into and then attack me directly with the weaker one. That's the idea it seems._ He intentionally cast an obvious glance down to his reverse card.

Lim saw it and hesitated momentarily.

Jamie scoffed, seeing that Lim bought his bluff. "What are you waiting for, Lim?"

Lim didn't answer. He eyed Jamie curiously.

"Come on, then. You've made the move to suicide your monster against mine and attack me directly. What's stopping you?"

Lim looked from Jamie to his reverse card. Coolly, he said. "You're trying to bait me into not attacking you."

"NOT attacking me?" Jamie laughed. He let out a small sigh. "Lim, I don't really care anymore who or what you are, whom or what group your working for or any of that."

Lim was intrigued and asked just what he is focused on now.

Jamie stared up at Lim with one of his eyes covered by his bangs. "Destroying you for daring to put my family in front of you as a shield."

Lim, inwardly, felt this man's passion for defending his family. It was even evident with the way his monster carried itself. Anytime he looked up at that magician, it was only staring at him. Likewise with Jamie. It was an admirable trait that he found truly commendable with him; he was focused on removing the threat from his family. But he unfortunately didn't realize the potential havoc, the death he and his friends might bring on everyone for this effort. The Dragon Bones…the Millennium Items…they both were unholy objects better left forgotten by time as he had been told. While he didn't fully understand the potential of the Millennium Items, he was fully aware of what those Dragon Bones could do. What they could do to the entire world. He'd been told what might happen if the worst came about. Lim scowled at Jamie with a look of ferocity he'd reserved within him since meeting him. His fist trembled slightly and he clenched his cards that much tighter.

"Jamie, I understand your-"

"You don't understand anything." Jamie said, cutting him off.

"No, you don't understand!" Lim said with his voice rising. "What you do, you do to defend your family and clear your name. But I do what I do to defend everyone on this planet, you and your sister alike!"

"What?" Jamie said slowly and sarcastically, as if he wasn't understanding. "Are you serious?"

"Confining six innocents against their will versus a certain apocalypse? I find it perfectly acceptable versus finding out what apocalypse looks like." Lim exclaimed.

Jamie brought his Duel Disk up level with his chest and with his free hand, pointed a fist at Lim. "Are you my guardian, Lim? Human beings of the world have a precious gift that no matter what culture, what nationality, what gender, what age they may be. You know what that gift is, Lim? It's the power of choice. People can choose their destiny. Not have people like you decide it for them!"

Lim shook his head violently, "I'm not choosing your destiny, fool! I'm working to prevent…to prevent the end of all destinies! Copycat! (2500/2100) Destroy Dark Magician! (2500/2100)"

Lim's monster didn't even get a chance to raise its staff up in an attempt to make an attack before Jamie swept his hand toward his face down card on the field.

"Reverse Card, Open!"

All in one moment, Lim noticed that Jamie had taken a card from the center of his deck that was sticking out as well as that Jamie's Dark Magician (2500/2100) had been concealed in a white smoke that had emanated from the reverse card Jamie had just activated. A source of light from within that smoke cast a shadow over the profile of Dark Magician and Lim watched the shadow change shape and distort slightly.

"The card I used, a Quick-Play Spell Card called Dedication Through Light and Darkness, lets me sacrifice my Black Magician on the field to Special Summon Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2500) from my deck." Jamie said coolly.

Out of nowhere, a small blast of air at the feet of the monster cleared away the smoke. Gone was Dark Magician and Jamie's new monster had replaced it on the field. A pale, blue skinned, human looking spellcaster with an arcane headdress that topped long locks of hair. His outfit was skin tight and decorated throughout with seemingly black leather straps and buckles.

A glow started to appear on Jamie's Duel Disk near his graveyard. "Dark Magician of Chaos' effect. When I Normal or Special Summon it, I can add one Spell Card from my graveyard to my hand." Jamie snatched it from his Duel Disk and flipped it to Lim, showing him the card he chose, his Dark Magic Curtain Spell Card. He silently slipped it into his hand as Lim watched him without voicing complaint.

Instead, Lim said, "That was the second one."

"The second one?" Jamie asked.

Lim looked above him to the hanging tapestry that represented his Spell Chronicle Spell Card.

"Tch…" Jamie grunted. He watched himself become surrounded by the five cards that Lim had chosen earlier as larger holographic versions of themselves. All of the faces were facing Jamie while the backs were facing Lim.

"Choose, Jamie." Lim said.

Jamie surveyed the cards and saw one that really had no possible way of hurting him. Jamie pressed a button on his Duel Disk that corresponded with the card that he selected. That card turned and revealed its face to Lim.

"Ritual Sealing is added to my hand, then." Lim said as the cards faded away and he took the card from the five he had removed from play and added it to his hand. He pocketed the rest in his rear pocket again. A quick shuffle of his hand and he picked two cards from his hand lining them up to be placed in his Duel Disk. "I'll set these reverse cards. And I'll play the Spell Card Upstart Goblin. In exchange for giving you 1000 Life Points, I can draw 1 card. End turn."

JAMIE – 3000  
LIM – 4000

"Draw." Jamie looked at his card and immediately slapped the monster onto his Duel Disk. "If you're going to take advantage of the Spell Cards I play, I may as well get something from them as well! I'll summon Skilled White Magician (1700/1900) in attack mode!"

A man that had wrapped himself in dark cloths but had what looked to be ornate armor around its shoulders appeared on the field. It wielded a staff that bore similarities to the one Dark Magician used. A similar color, a similar spherical gem in the center of the staff, raised ridges. The face of the man was hidden, he kept his head bowed and a veil coming from a head dressing obscured the view, also.

Jamie lined up another card to go into his Duel Disk as he explained to Lim the effect of Skilled White Magician. Similarly to Spell Chronicle, whenever either of them uses a Spell Card, Skilled White Magician would gain a Spell Counter. When it had three Spell Counters, it could Special Summon Buster Blader (2600/2500) from his deck, hand or graveyard.

"I'll play this Spell Card, Magician's Illusion #5!"

A image of Jamie's Spell Card appeared on the field, depicting a sharply dressed stage magician seemingly sticking his hand in and through a sheet of solid steel. But the same light green aura that surrounded that card left it and traveled across the field to Lim's Copycat, which was mimicking Jamie's Dark Magician (2500/2100)

"What the?!" Lim hammered out watching as a ATK counter appeared next to his monster and it reduced the ATK of the monster from 2500 to 2000.

"Magician's Illusion #5 lets me adjust the ATK of one monster on the field and make it 2000 for one turn. So long as I discard one monster from my hand." Jamie flipped his monster, Jowgen the Spiritualist out of his hand and set it into his graveyard. "But the upside is that I can cripple your copy monster!" Jamie shouted, pointing at it.

In his mind, Lim though about his reverse cards. _It's not enough damage for me to waste just yet. I need to lower his Life Points more._ Lim made no move to use his reverse cards as he watched Jamie's monster prepare to attack his. The chaos mage, which was hovering in the air slightly above the field, raised itself even higher so that it could easily look down on the Copycat. Raising the scepter above its head, a small sphere formed and started to grow from the tip of it. It swirled with the colors of red and black but it cracked with energy, like a ball of lightning. It grew to be about the size of a large basketball. With no command from Jamie or the monster itself, it shot from the staff toward the Copycat, trailing a comet like tail of mostly black with streaks of red and orange. When it connected with the Copycat, nothing seemed to happen. The attack connected with the monster's chest and it was absorbed with no ill effects. But then, the monster began to shudder and like a spider web, white lines began to criss-cross all along the magician's body. The 'shell' fell away like glass revealing the true Copycat, which was destroyed instantly after the ruse fell away, knocking back the shards of the Black Magician 'shell' toward Lim and forcing him to raise his hands up in a defensive move.

JAMIE – 3000  
LIM – 3200

Both Jamie's Skilled Dark Magician and Lim's Spell Chronicle gained a counter thanks to the Magician's Illusion #5 that Jamie used. There was now one on each of them. The armor that Skilled Dark Magician had about its chest had three green orbs on it; two towards its shoulders and one toward its chest. A orb on its left shoulder began to glow and white light began to swim inside of it.

Jamie pointed toward the Skilled White Magician (1700/1900) and had it attack Lim's Hannibal Necromancer (1400/1800). It held its staff out in front of its body in its left hand and with its right hand, glided a gloved hand just above the top of its staff where a similar orb to the ones on its armor resided. Its lips moved and hummed a silent incantation which caused the staff to begin to glow in a fierce purple light. After a moment, the light traveled and focused itself at that orb on its end. Cupping his free hand near the top of the scepter, the magician 'pulled' the light from the orb and held it within his hand. Pointing it outward as if offering it to Hannibal Necromancer, the purple light suddenly shot away from the magicians hand. Like eight snakes jumping from its hand toward Hannibal Necromancer, they tore through the chest of the monster, destroying it instantly and continued on and impacted against Lim's chest, causing the man to step back and drop to a knee.

JAMIE – 3000  
LIM – 2900

"Tch…" Lim grunted as he came back to his feet immediately and swiftly, refusing to give the pain he had felt any more notice. He would not be humble and spill himself on the ground before Jamie. He clutched his cards tighter and glanced down at his Duel Disk to confirm just how many Life Points he had lost.

"I'm not done with you yet, Lim." Jamie tersely called out. Lim looked up and saw Jamie putting a card into an open Spell/Trap Card slot on his Duel Disk.

"I'll play my Spell Card, Magical Blast."

Lim didn't have time to even catch what they had did, all he caught was two large fireballs with colors of white, blue and red shooting at him from the direction of Jamie's two monsters. They impacted against him one quickly following the other and had enough force to raise him slightly off the ground. He shuffled his feet quickly to regain his footing, landing awkwardly but not falling.

Jamie watched Lim manage to keep himself on his feet. His fingers slipped his Spell Card into the graveyard as he spoke. "Magical Blast, for each Spellcaster-type monster on my field, inflicts 200 points damage to your Life Points. On my field are my Skilled White Magician (1900/1700) and my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2500) so you take 400 damage. Also, if I choose to, I can add this card to my hand from my graveyard during my draw phase instead of drawing a card."

JAMIE – 3000  
LIM – 2500

Lim looked upwards toward his Spell Chronicle tapestry. "Since you used another Spell Card, another chronicle counter is added to Spell Chronicle."

Jamie motioned toward his Skilled White Magician with his hand containing his hand cards. "Also, I've added another spell counter to my monster, which now has two." Jamie got a brief glance at another of the orbs on the shoulder of his monster becoming aglow before his vision was blocked by the four cards he could pick from Lim's Spell Chronicle. The cards remaining were Advanced Ritual Art, Premature Burial, Ritual Sealing and Level Limit Area B. Without hesitation, he selected one and its face was turned to Lim.

"You choose Advanced Ritual Art…" Lim said carefully.

Jamie just nodded. _I know he's probably got some kind of Ritual Monster in his deck. I want him to use that Spell Card. It'll help my cause out with Skilled Dark Magician on the field. He can't use the rest of them effectively just yet. But I won't be unprepared for that monster when it comes._ Jamie picked one card out of his hand, Book of Eclipse.

"I'll set one reverse card, end turn." Jamie said and began to wonder what kind of Ritual Monster Lim would show him.

* * *

Savior sat alone in his enclosed study. No air circulated through the room. It made the air stale and stagnant yet he didn't care. He ran his finger lightly over the scar that crossed the side of his face, feeling uneasy. With the Dragon Bones less than a day away from being on their way back to China, he was ill at ease. He was not any closer to finding a way to destroy the things. No, he hadn't solved that mystery. There was something else that was getting at him now. The Terry Hairston kid and the Millennium Puzzle that he had.

No reports had been given to him sharing the news that he wanted to hear. He wanted to hear that he'd been apprehended and that he was being jailed at this very moment. But he was still out there. Him and the other five that he'd had impersonated to cover his agents' tracks.

"The prey has escaped the trap…" he said aloud to himself. He had stretched himself out on a small cot with his hands to his sides.

While he still believed that Lamar Vega would find his way to him eventually, he continued to consider Terry. Savior was no fool, he knew any unaccounted for item could wreck a plan and that's what Terry and his group were to him. Unaccounted for items with the potential to destroy his plan.

Groaning, he sat up a bit off the cot. It was like a long distance chess match to him. He'd made the opening move to frame the boy. He responded in kind by eluding capture and most likely gathering his comrades. He couldn't confirm that, but he guessed it to be true. Savior had been idle so Terry had made another move; seeking to find him out and clear his name. Savior's response to that had been to travel to Japan and plant the seeds of doubt within Lamar Vega's mind. To twist his thoughts and confuse his judgment by showing him the truth of his birth. He knew he'd returned to America. He would try to find solace there, but there's none anymore. He knew the young man would come to him eventually. When that happens, he will have captured Terry's black knight. Now it seemed that Terry was being idle. Savior's next move was to capture someone close to him. He'd been told it was a girl that was the step-sister of one of Terry's comrades. So now he'd captured a pawn.

With a pawn of Terry's captured and his own knight in danger, all things pointed to Savior having the advantage. But it was not his advantage. Terry was not doing things the way he had expected. He wasn't making the moves he thought he should. He had his own plan and that made Savior wonder just who was being trapped here. He had been wondering this for a long time actually.

It was exactly and specifically the reason why he had Lim meet them.

Sitting up fully on his cot, he felt his body move through the still, stuffy air. Like all in the Shang Dynasty, he made it an important and critical point to know his people. To know what are, by extension, his strengths and weaknesses. Loyalty was good, but if you didn't know your people, you could be leading a loyal group of fools. Lim was no fool, yet he was no elite soldier either. This was his problem. He was loyal to the Shang Dynasty to a fault only because he had been raised that way. He did what was asked of him and nothing more because you didn't ask more of him. He was your ideal soldier. Your ideal bishop in a sense. His problem was that he didn't think for himself. If encountered with something new, he froze and that was a serious detrimental character flaw Savior had considered when it was requested that he lead this expedition to American to recover the Dragon Bones.

But the more he had considered it, the more that he found that he agreed with the decision. He had complete faith in the man that he would not fail with that kind of character.


	15. Jamie vs Lim : For My Family II

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior

"My turn. Draw." Lim pulled his next card away from his deck, glanced at it and moving quickly, picked up another card from his hand. "I'll use it immediately, Advanced Ritual Art."

The area around Lim turned darker in an instant, as if twilight was encircling the man. It wasn't a still blackness, there were other dark colors moving within it. It gave it the eerie feeling that it was pulsing. Unless you looked hard enough into that darkness, you would've missed the large stone pillars and columns that surrounded a rock shrine of some sort. While the rest of these stones looked rather weathered and beaten by time and the elements, a flat stone slab on the ground at Lim's feet looked smooth and fresh. As he was taking it all in, Jamie took notice that the darkness had flowed out even more and was starting to spread over to his side of the field as well.

Lim saw Jamie looking around at his surroundings but didn't comment on them for him. He instead slipped his deck from the holder on his Duel Disk and started to explain the effect of Advanced Ritual Art. When played, he said, he could search his deck for a Normal Monster whose levels were equal to that of the Ritual Monster he wanted to play and send it to the graveyard. Then he could Ritual Summon the monster he selected out of his hand. Having found the card, he said, "I'll send Thousand Eyes Idol (Level 1 0/0) to my graveyard to Ritual Summon Relinquished." (Level 1 0/0)

As Lim fed the card into his graveyard, a much larger form of it but with the face of it facing away from Jamie, appeared on the field right above the stone tablet on the ground. Suddenly, the card dissolved as if it was made from sand or tiny marbles and fell on the tablet with a cascading 'whoosh' sound. They bounced around briefly but then as they settled, they all started to glow in a neon green glow on the tablet. Unknown forces started to shift the material around on the tablet until they formed a perfect ring on the tablet and within the ring, along the inner edge, various characters took shape. Jamie looked but couldn't decipher them. It didn't matter, however, as each of the individual characters started to spin. After a moment, there were dozens of small circles that had formed and were now starting to shoot off light vertically. Within them, a card version of Relinquished appeared. Oddly, the darkness started to retreat at that moment. Jamie felt the normal sunlight of the day at his back and saw that the darkness was being absorbed into the card itself. Once it was all within the card, the shrine, stone pillars and rock tablet that made up Advanced Ritual Art started to fade away, too. The card had turned black as well and started to change shape, taking on the form of the monster itself. It slowly sunk down from the air to hover just above the ground.

"Relinquished…" Jamie said aloud to himself, all too familiar with the monster's effect having once wanted to use one himself. Once per turn, Lim could use Relinquished to take control of one monster on his field and equip it to Relinquished. The stolen monster's ATK and DEF would become Relinquished ATK and DEF. Also, if it was destroyed by battle, the equipped monster would be destroyed instead and any damage from the battle would be inflicted to his Life Points.

He glanced up at his field which contained his Skilled White Magician (1700/1900) and Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2500), both in attack position. He knew the situation he was in now didn't favor him one bit. _If I was him, I would steal Dark Magician of Chaos. That would give him a monster with an attack power that honestly could easily crush most of my other monsters in my deck._

Lim didn't disappoint. The eye on its small head flashed very briefly and then turned to its normal hue. When Jamie turned to look at his monster, he could see the same symbol on the forehead of Dark Magician of Chaos. It had become a slave to Relinquished. With noiseless footfalls, Jamie's monster crossed over to Lim's side of the field. But you could tell in the monster's eyes that it was doing so very reluctantly. Each step was hesitant and its movements were jerky and erratic. But it eventually came to stop in front of Relinquished. Like a pet waiting to be stroked, Dark Magician of Chaos put out a very shaky hand that seemed to be trying to retreat. The instant it touched the crown of Relinquished, the monster's skin seemed to change to a very dark violet in the same manner as Relinquished. Then Relinquished let out a noise from deep within itself, as if were trying to roar through water. Jamie's monster disappeared and a counter appeared next to Lim's monster showing its new strength at (2800/2500).

Jamie felt bad for allowing his monster to get taken over, but his only thought was about Natasha's safety. No matter what happened to his monsters or his pride or his body or his cards, her safety came first. He ventured a glance at her still form.

"Now, Jamie, you don't have any monsters out to defend you, save that Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)" Lim pointed out.

Jamie wordlessly flipped up his reverse card.

"Book of Eclipse?" Lim said aloud to himself, then sucked on his teeth.

"Book of Eclipse turns your monsters on the field to face down defense position." Jamie said in a monotone. "But it also gets me another counter for my Skilled Dark Magican, giving it three counters and a chronicle counter for your Spell Chronicle, putting it at one."

Now pointing at the fading form of Relinquished, Jamie stated with more authority to his voice now, "But more importantly, face down position monsters are stripped of any and all Equip Spell Cards that are equipped to them. So you lose the ATK and DEF power of Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2500)."

Lim set two fingers on top of his deck. "But Book of Eclipse has another effect doesn't it? In the End Phase, all my face down monsters are returned to face up attack position and for each card that is flipped, I can draw one card."

Lim drew his card and slipped it into his hand. Meanwhile, Relinquished (0/0) returned to the field but now as a much weaker monster and completely open to Jamie's attack on his upcoming turn. "Turn end." Lim announced.

"My turn, then. Draw." Jamie took a card from his deck and smiled at it briefly before showing it to Lim. "I'll play the Spell Card, Silent Doom. Silent Doom lets me Special Summon one Normal Monster from my graveyard in face up defense position. I'm choosing Black Magician! (2500/2100)"

Nonchalantly, the form of Black Magician appeared on the field before Jamie, crouched to one knee on a card version of itself, but retaining that cold, hard glare for Lim's monsters and Lim himself. In the short amount of time that it had been off the field, that had not changed at all. But Lim was not intimidated by the monster and instead asked Jamie what he intended to do with the monster since he could not attack with it.

"I'm going to fuse it." Jamie answered simply, now looking toward his Skilled White Magician while pulling a card from his deck. "Skilled While Magician's effect. When this card has three Spell Counters on it, from my graveyard, hand or deck, I can Special Summon Buster Blader! (2600/2300)"

Now Black Magician stood up from the card it had been crouching on as Jamie played Polymerization, both of Jamie's monsters began to glow and encase themselves in a large, off-white orbs that floated above the field. They started to circle around Jamie for a few rotations, one going in one direction and the other going in the opposite direction. It was when they were passing and were behind Jamie that they collided and formed a much larger sphere where a silhouette started to appear, blocked out from the light of the two monsters. The new monster retained the face of Black Magician but its clothing and armaments more closely resembled Buster Blader. Rigid iron armor encased it from head to toe, its top hat that seemed more decorative at first was more fitting of a warrior mage. In one of its gauntlet encased hands, it held a weapon that seemed more of a spear design, but it was so ornate and arcane that it seemed just as fitting as a spell casting device.

"Fusion Summon! The magical swordsman, Dark Paladin! (2900/2400)" Jamie explained that for each dragon-type monster in either players graveyard or on the field, Dark Paladin's attack power increases by 500. "Not only that, but by discarding a card from my hand, I can negate the activation of a Spell Card and destroy it." Jamie added, but then turned his direct attention on Relinquished. "But you won't live through this turn, Lim. Relinquished lost its power source and has 0 attack power. With only 2500 Life Points, you wont see the next turn."

Lim said nothing.

"I have your word. You will release Natasha if I beat you." Jamie reminded Lim.

"I will." Lim said simply.

"Then Dark Paladin (2900/2400) destroy Relinquished! (0/0)" Jamie called out, emphasizing it by slamming his fist into his palm. Dark Paladin responded by raising its staff and spheres of white, blue and light yellow light started to cluster around the edge of the blade. The didn't combine but just collected together like bubbles, forming a sphere. Gently, the paladin raised its staff a little higher and then snapped the staff downward in a arch. This caused the lights to stretch in the shape of the staff's swipe, forming a sickle of multicolored light that now mixed together to become white along its outer edge, yellow at either end of the sickle and blue on the inner edge of it. Tucking its staff and the hand that held it behind him, Dark Paladin then thrust forward with his open hand and caused the sickle to fly off directly for Relinquished.

It never made it. "Reverse Card, Open!" Jamie heard Lim call out and his face fell. The way the attack was going, it blocked Jamie's view of the field where the card was shown. All he saw was the trailing edge of his attack head for Relinquished, but then instead of striking it, _it flew around it_, and came back toward him just as quickly.

"What the…?! Waaa!" Jamie got out. His eyes were like saucers and his pupils like pebbles, he couldn't help but stare at the magic wave that glided past his monster and connected directly with him. There was no preparation and he was literally lifted a foot or so off the ground and flew backwards. He landed squarely on his lower back and that snapped the back of his head into the pavement as he skidded along the ground for a moment before stopping.

"Ughh…" he groaned aloud, feeling the back of his tender head and testing the scrapes his back had through his clothing. "What was that just now…"

"Trap Card. Magic Cylinder." Lim answered for him. The card had disappeared from the field. "This trap card lets me negate one of my opponents attacks and deal them damage equal to the attack power of the attacking monster. Your monster tried to attack me with an attack power of 2900, so that's deducted from your Life Points."

JAMIE – 100

LIM – 2500

Jamie was screaming at himself in his mind, every curse that came to bear he called himself twice over. Making himself stand up again, he glanced at his Life Counter to be sure he still had 100 Life Points. _In the next turn, Relinquished is going to absorb my monster._ He looked down into his hand seeing the three cards he had. Mystical Elf (800/2000), Pitch Black Power Stone and Miracle Restoring. With only 100 Life Points, he couldn't take one single chance and leave any opening. Grimly, he frowned at himself and his lapse in judgment to get caught by Magic Cylinder. Something should've gone off in his mind. Something should've told him to be mindful of that reverse card. Something should've told him Lim was entirely too calm about losing the duel. Something should have told himself _something!_ He glanced over at Natasha, and the most random thought passed through his mind. He recalled how she had told him he needed to grow up and stop acting like a kid sometimes.

"…Crap." he pitifully muttered aloud, taking the three cards into his hands. _I won't let this guy beat me. If I lost, I'm at his mercy. And so is she..._ "I'll summon Mystical Elf (800/2000) in defense mode. I'll set two reverse cards and end my turn."

"My turn. Draw." Lim took the card and pointed with it to Relinquished. "Make Dark Paladin (2900/2400) part of you!"

Like the Dark Magician of Chaos before him, the warrior spellcaster fought to escape the draw of Lim's monster. It was completely pointless but that didn't seem to stop it from trying in the least. But like before, when it reached to touch the head of the abnormal looking ritual monster, it disappeared from sight. The staff it held before clattered to the ground and as if it were made of smoke, it started to disintegrate and drift off in an unfelt wind. A new attack counter appeared next to Relinquished (2900/2400) showing its new power.

"Relinquished can take my monster's attack and defense, but its effects don't transfer over." Jamie said more for his benefit than anything.

Lim added the card he had pointed to Relinquished at with to his hand. "That's all I need, Jamie. Don't forget, even if you manage to summon another monster that can overtake Relinquished, any damage that is inflicted on Relinquished while equipped with one of your monster is dealt to you. You only have 100 Life Points left and no more cards in your hand. Also, if I summon another monster to the field, Relinquished will destroy Mystical Elf and then the last monster will end the duel for you."

Jamie said nothing, realizing that his two reverse cards made that opportunity for Lim impossible. Pitch Black Power Stone was a Trap Card that when activated, placed three Spell Counter on it. Once per turn, he could move on of those counters to a card that would take them. His other reverse card, Miracle Restoring, was another Trap Card that would let him remove two Spell Counters from the field to Special Summon either Black Magician or Buster Blader from his graveyard. Both Buster Blader and Black Magician had attack powers in excess of 2000, and 1900 was the usual cap of level 4 monsters that were useful. There were other possibilities, but he felt confident he would make it to the next turn. But with no cards in his hand, past that was impossible to guess.

"Relinquished, (2900/2400) crush Mystical Elf! (800/2000)"

Jamie made a quick realization as his defense monster was destroyed. _Lim didn't summon a monster to follow up the attack with?!_

Lim picked up a card from his hand. "I'll set one reverse card. End turn."

Jamie was reeling. He silently drew his card, but didn't look at it immediately. _If he didn't summon a monster, does that mean he doesn't have one in hand?_ Glancing to his drawn card, his only card, he saw Pot of Greed. _I have to draw something out my butt here..._

Without saying its name, Jamie slipped the card into his Duel Disk, seeing that Lim saw the card and knew its effect. He nodded to Jamie. Jamie looked down at his deck and as he pulled the top two cards from it, he glanced again at Natasha. If he could, he would summon up every bit of luck he'd have for the rest of his life for this one draw. As it stood, he hoped his luck was good enough. He brought the two cards to bear in front of his face.

Mystical Space Typhoon and Magical Exemplar. (1700/1400)

He didn't get very much time to think about what to do with them before, as per Spell Chronicle, more cards surrounded him. Pot of Greed had been the trigger for the second chronicle counter. Now he had to select another card.

Jamie let off a long and tired sigh. To win this duel, he had to _really_ become a magician to pull it off. Life Points at 100. Two cards in hand. No monsters on the field. Now he had to send another card to his opponent that could only help him while trying to find a way to win himself. Only Premature Burial and Level Limit Area B remained for him to select from and neither was a card he wanted to willingly put into Lim's hands. Premature Burial would let Lim, at the cost of 800 Life Points, Special Summon a monster from his graveyard. If Lim truly didn't have a monster in his hand, Premature Burial would rectify that situation and he'd lose in the next turn. Level Limit Area B, a continuous Spell Card, was not much better. It forced all level 4 or higher monster on the field to defense mode and they couldn't switch as long as it was active. It would hurt Lim too, but only partially. Relinquished was a level 1 monster that could attack under the conditions of Level Limit Area B. If he gave that to Lim he would be forced on the defensive instead of opting to be.

He put those out of his immediate thoughts for the moment. How he handled his own cards would help him decide how to handle Lim's. Mystical Space Typhoon would be extremely useful in destroying Relinquished and its attack power. Since his monster, Dark Paladin, was now a Equip Spell Card equipped to Relinquished, all bets were off. Exemplar (1700/1400) was trickier. Whenever a Spell Card was activated, it gained 2 Spell Counters. Once per turn, he could remove any number of Spell Counters from Exemplar to Special Summon a spellcaster-type monster from his hand or graveyard equal to the number of counters he removed. The only problem was that he had no other spellcasters in his hand and none in his graveyard at level 2. They were mostly high level.

But then, from within his mind, something struck him. A solution, a means to get something good out of what he had to work with.

It's something akin to watching clouds go by. Each one was random, a chance creation by nature that's only defined by things that are just as variable. Rain, air currents, temperature. But to look at those clouds? Each person can see something different in one cloud. One could see their brother smiling down on them, while another might see an old friend from years past. And be comforted by that thought. But that's what's interesting about humans and emotions. We draw inspiration and strength from things that are at their base, empty. Should formations of water that we call clouds give us hope, determination, strength? By any scientific means, by any means that doesn't include emotions, no. But they do. There's no rational explanation for it, they just do.

In the cards Jamie had in his hand, the cards he'd set on the field, and even in the cards in his graveyard and Lim's staring him in the face. Individually, they were just that, cards. But they could be combined and joined into other things. It takes more than one card to create a strategy and counter-strategy. You can mix 40 different cards together and you could create a deck. But with the cards Jamie saw, he saw something different.

Possibilities.

Like lego blocks falling together to build a tower, in a blink of inspiration, it all came to him in a flash. And the only thing that betrayed that he'd had one was the look of sudden awe that came to his face.

"This…could work." Jamie whispered to himself quietly, as if to say it out loud would make the sudden idea that much more impossible.

Lim, through it all, stood silently. Awaiting his opponent's next move.

"I'll summon Magical Exemplar (1700/1400) in attack mode!" Jamie yelled out, his new idea creating new confidence in him as well. The monster began to take shape on his field. It came out as a fairly skinned, almost pale looking woman dressed in fine green robes. She stood tall and proud, bearing no weapons. The sleeves of her robes extended well past where her hands ended when she held them to her sides. At the end of those sleeves, small bits of green and blue light were dancing around, like fireflies.

After explaining Magical Exemplar's effect for Lim, he slipped the other card he had into his Duel Disk. "From my hand, I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon! I'll use it to destroy Dark Paladin!"

Right below Relinquished, one could see white swirls of fast moving air and bits of dust begin to spin around the monster. They didn't expand, but started moving vertically, turning into a twister. Relinquished, however, never moved. It was as if the intense winds were like a summer breeze. Jamie sucked on his teeth at the sight, but the Quick-Play Spell Card had it's intended effect. Like a ghost ascending to heaven, he saw a transparent version of Dark Paladin emerge from within Relinquished and float above it, slightly smiling if one could be so observant.

"Tch…" Lim grunted, seeing where Jamie was now heading. "Of course, Mystical Space Typhoon adds another chronicle counter to my Spell Chronicle."

"And it also adds two to my Magical Exemplar." Jamie said in retort. "But I'm not finished with this turn yet. Reverse Card, Open! Pitch Black Power Stone!"

Jamie Trap Card flipped up on the field, depicting a simple black stone that had a triangular shaped object suspended within it. But that triangle, at its three points, were somewhat separated from the rest of the item as they'd been divided from the main part by circular arcs. That object now appeared on the field as the card vanished. But as soon as it was on the field, one of the segmented ends of the triangle vanished at the same time that Magical Exemplar began to raise its arms. The tiny specks of green and blue light followed her arms up until her hands, small, delicate and as pale as she was, were exposed. She cupped her hands yet kept them slightly apart and the light started to become more packed together.

"Magical Exemplar lets me Special Summon a monster equal to the number of Spell Counters I choose to remove from her. She gained two already, and now a third from my Trap Card. I'll remove them all to Special Summon a level 3 Spellcaster-type monster from my graveyard."

Lim, thinking quickly, tried to recall any monsters Jamie had played that were so low. But he couldn't think of any; all of his monsters had been higher levels.

"I can see that look in your eye, Lim." Jamie said, having taken ahold of the card he wanted from his graveyard, but not yet summoning it. "I had to think about it for a moment too. But this particular monster, I never summoned it. I placed it into my graveyard for the cost of activating Magician's Illusion #5. That monster was Jowgen the Spiritualist, and I'll summon it now!"

Lim watched the monster appear on the field with the first visible scowl he'd shown Jamie. The first emotion he'd shown other than mild surprise or amusement to his opponent. Jowgen was, to put it simply, a pain in the ass. Lim spoke with clear irritation reverberating in his voice, "While Jowgen exists on the field, no player can Special Summon monsters. In addition, you can discard one card from your hand to destroy all Special Summoned monsters on the field."

Jamie hiccupped a laugh, holding up both of his empty hands. "If I had one to spare, I might. But his presence and strength is more than enough. Jowgen (200/1300) destroy Relinquished! (0/0)"

The staff that Jowgen carried with it branched off at its ends, much like a Y does. The priest, with one hand, drove the end of it into the earth. It embedded itself until roughly half of the staff was buried and the top of the staff now was no taller than Jowgen's chest. It took a small step back and held out a hand to the end of its staff, white light beginning to glow in a small sphere around its hand and the staff.

The ground below them began to tremble slightly. Not enough to sway their stance but enough to be felt. Small black characters similar to the ones that had appeared on the field due to Advanced Ritual Art being played embedded themselves in the ground below Relinquished in a circle. But unlike before, these symbols did not spin. Like a spider web, lines, shapes and other characters began to form all along the ground, but the circle that had appeared at first was still central. A guttural, commanding voice carried out from Jowgen, saying only one word.

"Disappear!"

As soon as he said it, that same white light that was in its hand and at the top of its staff began to rise from the characters on the ground. Its effect on Relinquished was immediate. The stoic, solitary and seemingly emotionless monster cried out its first and final cry of desperation. The ground began to consume it steadily and as it sunk lower, the characters followed it. When only its head was still slightly above the ground, stubbornly refusing its fate, a sudden crack of lightning from the end of Jowgen's staff surprised them all and caused Relinquished and the last of the characters to disappear.

JAMIE – 100

LIM – 2300

Lim heard his Life Counter tick down slightly, but was more concerned with the other monster on Jamie's field, Magical Exemplar. It had not lowered its hands from that raised position and now the blue and green light that were swirling before were looking more agitated.

"Magical Exemplar, (1700/1400) direct attack!" Jamie called out.

She never lowered her hands, but the light that had been all about her since she'd came on the field struck out like a cobra. Lim grunted and tried to brace himself against the attack with his shoulder and forearm, letting it slam into it.

JAMIE – 100

LIM – 600

"Turn end." Jamie said, refusing to smirk seeing Lim's Points now down to 600.

"My turn, Draw." Lim said quietly, masking the frustrations he felt within him quite well. Jamie had managed to take down Relinquished but more importantly, he killed his means of bringing it back. Premature Burial, with its cost of 800 Life Points to revive a monster from his graveyard, was useless to him now. It was _doubly_ useless now that Jowgen occupied the field, he couldn't special summon monsters regardless of there being a cost or not.

The fact that Jowgen was weak gave him no solace. Not only was there two reverse cards still on Jamie's field, Lim didn't have a monster card in his hand at all. But like Jamie, he had an opportunity as well. "I'll play this Spell Card, Graceful Charity."

"I'll draw three cards…" Lim said as he pulled three cards free from the top of his deck. And his expression darkened significantly. Before, he had a very neutral look on his face. A look that showed neither happy or sad. Now it was a scowl, surprising for Lim who didn't wear emotions.

Jamie picked up on it, and rubbed his fingertips together, trying to formulate what it was that Lim was brooding over. He didn't get much time to reflect on it as Lim took two cards from his hand and slipped them into his graveyard.

"I'll discard Premature Burial…and Makyura the Destructor. (1600/1200)"

Jamie could hardly believe what he just heard and saw. But he did and said nothing as Lim continued. "Makyura the Destructor's effect. When it's sent to the graveyard, I can play Trap Cards from my hand. I'll play Spirit Barrier."

The Trap Card appeared on Lim's field and thin, yellow lines of light began to crisscross their way around Lim's general area. They weren't that intimidating. "Spirit Barrier, when I have a monster on the field, lets me take no damage from battle. So I'll summon Spirit Reaper in defense mode."

Jamie couldn't help it, he let an audible gasp escape his mouth.

Lim saw the reaction and felt his stomach drop. "Crap…" he murmured to himself out the side of his teeth. Lim gauged Jamie's reaction to the card he was very hesitant and suspicious of. And to get this reaction from him? A reaction of surprise at sending his monster out in defense mode when it has just barely enough to destroy Jowgen the Spiritualist? It let Lim know that whatever those reverse cards were that he was worried about, they weren't ones that could've blocked his attack…had he attacked. He'd wasted an opportunity to win in going defensive. "Turn end."

Jamie just shook his head. "…More like game over, Lim. That was your last chance."

Lim said nothing, knowing the opportunity he'd let slip by him.

"My turn." Jamie said. But he did nothing, he just stood there and didn't draw.

Lim blinked in slight confusion. _Why doesn't he draw his next card?_

"In my Draw Phase…" and as he said it, a yellow light began to light up from within his graveyard. Lim pursed his lips together, wondering what Jamie was planning. Jamie pulled a card from his graveyard and flipped it out so Lim could see it. "In my Draw Phase, I'll invoke the effect of my Magical Blast Spell Card. By foregoing my Draw Phase, I can add it back to my hand."

Without hesitating, he lined the card up to slide into a empty Spell/Trap Card slot on his Duel Disk. "Spirit Barrier and Spirit Reaper will protect you from just about any kind of damage my monsters can do to you through attacking. But not from spells, Lim. For each Spellcaster-type monster I have on the field, I can inflict 200 damage to you with Magical Blast. My field has Jowgen the Spiritualist (200/1300) and Magical Exemplar, (1700/1400) so you'll take 400 damage!"

Even as the two monster let loose twin fireballs toward Lim, he saw the reverse card that he had been eyeing flip up and despite the damage that was hurdling toward him, he focused on that card, calling it's name aloud. "Magical Explosion!"

"Yes." Jamie said, now allowing a small smile. "Magical Explosion inflicts 200 damage to my opponent for each Spell Card I have in my graveyard. But only when I have no cards in my hand." As the now three fireballs crashed into him, Lim could hear Jamie once more.

"One card is all that I needed."

JAMIE – 100

LIM – 0

The blast from the fireballs cleared away soon enough along with the rest of the field. It revealed to Jamie's eyes Lim standing right where he had stood before but just staring at him with an unreadable expression to his face. No scowl, no smirk, no twitching eyebrow, but just a blank stare. Tabla rasa. Jamie met his gaze for only a brief second, then turned toward Natasha's still unmoving frame.

"How do you intend to escape?" Jamie heard from Lim behind him. Jamie didn't look at him but he would've saw that the man hadn't moved an inch. He shook Natasha by the shoulders lightly, trying to awaken her.

"_You're_ going to lead us out of here." Jamie said firmly.

Lim ventured a glance behind him at the boy and then reached for a small clear plastic bottle within his pocket. A stimulant that when inhaled would help clear any dredges of the anesthetic in her system. He tossed it at Jamie's feet, then walked over to the edge of the building where Jamie and Natasha were, trying to peer over the edge toward the earth below. He saw Jamie look at him out of the corner of his eye, intending to pitch himself over the edge, and said, "You wish…."

Surprisingly quickly, Jamie had jumped up from his crouched position and approached Lim from his side. Standing to Lim's side and sticking his foot behind him, Jamie grabbed the man's shirt from behind and yanked him backwards. Lim tripped and fell backwards onto the gravel and was pounced on by Jamie.

"Not only are you going to lead me and her out of here, you're going to tell us just what the devil is going on." Jamie said crossly, "And afterwards, I'll introduce you to someone."

Lim didn't fight from his position on the ground, he instead engaged Jamie verbally, "Who's that?"

Jamie smirked at Lim like he knew something that he didn't. And he did. As he thought of Sharp he said, "Who? A ghost that walks."

* * *

Knowledge, out on the streets, had caught up with Vega, but after his initial thought of trying to keep Vega from turning in his lease on life, he found he had nothing to say. So he did the next best thing and just followed him. Vega had glanced over his shoulder a couple of time to notice Knowledge following him. So that's how they stayed for a little while. Vega weaving his way between pedestrians with Knowledge at his heels, saying nothing at all but refusing to leave him alone.

Vega was aware of the looks people were giving him in passing. More people now littered the streets than before. No doubt to his mind that at least one of them would've recognized him from the slanderous newscasts that were labeling him as a thief and a criminal.

He wondered about how Suzuku was taking things.

Inwardly, he sighed, all at once wishing that if this had to happen, that Suzuku didn't learn about it. She had no choice but to know, now. He'd left most of the papers Savior had provided him in Japan because he wanted nothing to do with the vile documents. As if by leaving those behind in Japan would distance himself further from the truth. But the truth was like a great mountain. Impassive. Impenetrable. Unyielding.

Cracking dry humor at his own expense, he wondered just how ravenous his duelist detractors would be at this point. The seemingly without fault Lamar Vega was not only a criminal, but now a fugitive and a bastard. The amount of spin that could be put to his name was truly limitless. It was as far a fall a man could probably take. It must be like being thrown from heaven as an angel, but having your wings plucked all the way down to meet Lucifer. A fallen angel. A dark angel. A black knight.

"Terry would be disappointed in you."

Somehow, the mention of his rival by Knowledge stirred up something within Vega's blood that he hadn't had in what felt like a long time now. Whipping around to face Knowledge, who grunted in surprise, he said, "Get off his nuts."

Knowledge didn't interrupt Vega as he continued, "Terry's got nothing to do with this. His opinion of things doesn't matter, they don't change what happened."

"So what happened then!?" Knowledge blurted out. "What is wrong with you?!"

Vega swallowed hard, squelching a surprising desire within him to come clean with Catravious. "Like I said, I got jumped. Let it go."

Vega had turned around to continue walking and had barely taken one step before he heard from Catravious, "_Duelists struggle in their battles to be the victor, it's the essence of being one._"

Vega stopped mid stride and let an irritated sigh escape between his pursed lips. He could see the words in his mind to the quote even as Catravious continued, "_No pride and no delight can come from losing. Duelists gain no respect by losing, and therefore we're left with only one option as a duelist. To attain victory._"

Vega looked over his shoulder at Catravious. "Very good, Catravious."

"I'd hope so. You're the one that said it, Vega." Knowledge replied with no hint of pleasure or pride within his voice.

"To Terry in Battle City…" Vega said, now turning to face Catravious. "But do you remember the other part of it? It went, '_when you duel, you go for the win as hard as you can. But...when the prospect, when the thoughts, the possibilities, the chance of you losing becomes apparent, you freeze. Afraid of drawing that next card and maybe realizing all you worked to realize won't come to you in the end. Afraid that you'll lose...There's a simple term that can sum that up."_

Knowledge finished Vega's own quote for him, "_That's life. And in life, you can't win all the time."_

Vega closed his eyes, as if recalling the bitter, if better, times not even days ago before he was cursed with the information he now knew of his heritage. Nothing would be the same now, he thought solemnly to himself.

Knowledge continued to press, hoping to drive a point home. "Look at yourself, Vega. A whimpering shell of the duelist I knew. A guy I would not _dare_ to call the King of Games. Whatever's gotten into you has killed the guy that I knew beforehand. You ain't much more than a walking specter of Lamar Vega."

Vega opened his eyes, that dull, uninterested glare still within his eyes and Knowledge could tell he still hadn't gotten through to him. Vega said, "I can tell that you think I'm a loser. That I've given up. But that's not it at all, Catravious. I guess my problem is…"

Vega turned away from Catravious. "My problem is that I don't care anymore."

Two things happened for Knowledge at that point. Right then, he became aware that he saw someone running toward them from across the street. They were standing in front of the entrance to a small old world bakery. The building was made of brick and it had a large outdoor archway that led to its main entrance. It was a few feet deep and well covered to keep the elements out of the main entrance. Both he and Vega were roughly shoved into the doorway. The other thing he became aware of as he looked at the guy's face was the sound he kept hearing every time Kwandao or Sharp were nearby with their Millennium Items.

"What the…?!" Knowledge barked. But a hand over his mouth silenced him.

"Stupid…" was all that Sharp said of Knowledge, scowling hard at him. He let Knowledge knock his hand away from the young man's mouth.

"Stupid? What are you talking-" Knowledge was about to begin, but he saw past Sharp at a police cruiser that was passing them by. Sharp looked back behind him and looked at the cruiser as well.

"Yeah, that." he said crossly, and then looked back into Knowledge's slightly widened eyes. "You were standing around looking stupid. You're damned lucky I shoved you."

As if to possibly explain his inattention, Knowledge looked over at a quiet Vega. Sharp followed his gaze to the other person he'd shoved without looking closely at him.

"You…" Sharp said quietly. He noticed the gold hair, the dark skin, those told him the guy he was looking at was Lamar Vega. But only by description. The memory he had of Lamar Vega was a prideful to the point of slightly obnoxious duelist. A man that stood proud and his voice probably could be heard in a football stadium even if he whispered. None of that was present before him. With the shade being cast over them in the doorway, it darkened his features even more. His hair was wild and tousled as if he'd literally just woken up. The clothing he wore were speckled with bits of dirt or scuff marks. But more telling than that, his eyes. It was Sharp's first time meeting Vega face to face and for everything he'd heard of him, he'd expected to find someone who's eyes were just as fierce as his. This…boys…eyes told him all that he wanted to know.

"Don't tell me you're Lamar Vega…" Sharp said with a dangerous edge to his voice, lowering his gaze. "_Please_ tell me I'm making a mistake."

Vega, for his part, had not taken getting shoved lightly. But he stilled the thought by taking a closer look at the guy that had done it. It 'looked' like Terry but slightly different. He remembered Terry having hair that just fell down wherever. This guy's was pulled to the back. And where Terry's eyes were brown, his were green. But calling them green didn't do describing them justice. When he'd lowered his head and asked if he was Lamar Vega, those eyes swirled with something Vega couldn't put a finger on. Anger? Irritation? No, it was something stronger than just those. But whatever it was that he was seeing in Terry only made him curious. As well as the fact that he was acting like he didn't know him.

"What are you talking about, Terry?" Vega asked with a monotone sound to his voice.

Sharp raised his eyebrow slightly and then stood up straight. "That's right. You don't know. Long story short, you aren't talking to Terry right now."

Vega looked at him quizzically, but then he glanced down at the Millennium Puzzle that always hung from Terry's neck. "More of your mystical nonsense." He said.

Sharp looked at Vega and chuckled. "Nonsense, he says."

While Sharp and Vega were talking, Kwandao had walked into the archway with Knowledge, Sharp and Vega. Knowledge took notice of her arrival and acknowledged her with a grunt and shifting of his eyes. Kwandao was expecting such a 'greeting' from Knowledge but she said nothing to him.

"What are you doing here?" Knowledge said.

"Helping." she said quietly, subconsciously hoping to not rile Knowledge up.

"You want to help? Why not go home or something?" Knowledge said bitterly.

"I…I _want_ to help you." she said, trying to draw confidence into her stuttering voice but looking down toward her feet. "You all need help."

Knowledge whipped his head around to face her and said quickly, "Not _your_ help." She had been looking down but seeing him move, Knowledge saw her look up and blanch at looking right into his eyes. "When you help, Kwandao, lives get ruined. It's because of you that my life has been drawn into all this mystical crap. It's because of you that I now own this Millennium Eye that I can't get rid of. It's because of you that Sharp even exists. It's because of you that a part of Janet is long dead and gone forever. So believe me when I say…_I don't want any help from you, witch._"

Each accusation was like a sniper's bullet through her breast for Kwandao. Each one of those shots killed her just a little more. She couldn't argue with him; she felt the exact same way about all those things. All their lives would be so much simpler without her around. But just as she was about to lower herself into that pit of despair, Jamie's words to her came to mind._ "Toughen up. If you're going to be weak, you won't be able to survive this crisis, Kwandao. Because weakness is not an inherited trait. It's something that people choose to be. Are you choosing, volunteering, asking yourself, Kwandao…to be weak?"_

"I'm weak." she said aloud, saying the statement to Knowledge's face.

"Yes, you are." Knowledge confirmed for her. "You couldn't do anything to help Janet. You couldn't do anything to keep Re'-Sha from us. So just go home."

"I won't." she said simply, still looking into Knowledge's eyes.

Knowledge, like a lot of people, were more used to a meek and, frankly, pliable Kwandao. So he was slightly taken aback for her to refuse.

"I won't go home because there's nothing there for me." she said, shaking her head. "But also because I owe it to you. To you, to Terry, to Jamie, to Janet. To myself, to do my best to help you."

Knowledge scoffed incredulously at her, "You're kidding me, aren't you, Kwandao?"

She shook her head with a resolute no. "I…I know you want to go after them. The people that did this to us. And I just want…" And then Kwandao paused, unsure of how to finish that. She skipped it. "I want to help you all out."

"What a bunch of…" Knowledge muttered.

"Hey!" Sharp heatedly shouted at Knowledge, having watched him berate Kwandao. Knowledge turned to look at him almost like a puppy with its tail between its legs. "Lay off the girl. She's been more help today than you have."

"What?" Knowledge, despite himself, growled at Sharp.

"And brighter about not getting caught…" Sharp said with insulting notes as if Knowledge hadn't interrupted.

Knowledge just grunted and turned to look at Kwandao again. "Whatever, Sharp."

"Sharp…" Vega mumbled, getting everyone there to look at him now.

"My name." Sharp said to Vega.

Vega seemed to look a little harder at Sharp. "You're really not Terry?"

Sharp's right eye twitched in annoyance. Throwing his hands up in exasperation, he said, "Is everyone around here deaf or is it just selective hearing?"

Sharp could see the next question about to form on Vega's lips but he silenced him with a non-threatening glare and a shake of his head. "There's no time for all that right now. We've still got a deadline to meet before these thieves leave. There's only about 12 hours left so we'll have to split up."

Sharp glanced at Kwandao, then Knowledge, then at Vega and kept his eyes on the fallen duelist. "You're with me, sunshine. Kwandao, you and Knowledge head up the street while we head down."

Immediately, Sharp was hit with protests all around. Like kids bickering over a video game controller. Kwandao couldn't seem to get past saying, or stuttering, 'B-But, Sharp'. Knowledge had looked at Sharp with eyes that spoke of murder about being paired with Kwandao. Vega simply stated he had other places to be than searching for whatever they were looking for. The voices were all layered on top of each other and amounted to everyone trying to yell their opinion over the others.

Sharp lost all patience. He had been standing next to the red brick wall in the archway and with his right hand, he crumbled it into a fist and drove it into the wall. It made the sound one might expect from two dense and hard rocks connecting with each other, a sound akin to a thunderclap. He exhaled long and loud, as if he was relieving tremendous pressure from within himself by doing so. The only sound now filling that area was the sound of small bits of brick falling away from the wall. His fist remained lodged in the masonry.

"You _do_ have selective hearing…" Sharp muttered with his voice now sounding ten times lower and meaner. He lowered his head and peering through some loose threads of hair at the three of them. Kwandao had a hand covering her mouth, Knowledge stared at him with a breath caught in his lungs but Vega kept an impassive look. "So I'll explain it for everyone. No questions. Kwandao and I are the only ones up to date with what's been going on. And because she knows where I am and vice versa with these Millennium Items, it only makes sense if we're split up to be paired with one of us."

Sharp shifted his eyes to the side. He saw Knowledge open his mouth. Quickly, he yanked his fist free of the wall only to use it to grab Knowledge by his collar and slamming him roughly up against the opposite wall next to Kwandao, who let out a gasp and jumped away from the two of them in fright. Vega watched with a stunned look on his face.

Sharp easily hoisted Knowledge into the air slightly against the wall, using it to hold him there. He took note that his right hand was scraped and had a few, small, bloody patches on them. But he also took note that when Kwandao had jumped back, she recovered fast and had one hand near her chest, close to her Millennium Ring while the other was about to touch his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head. Kwandao stopped. Their eyes met for a moment. While she could easily see the frustration there, it was nothing like from before when she had to stop him. No, now it was under control, but he was no less aggressive in his own way. "Sharp…" she began.

"I'm fine." was Sharp's reply. "Don't worry."

Kwandao was still doubtful, but she let her hands fall to her side.

Sharp then turned toward Knowledge, looking up at him from his preferred scowling position. Head lowered and boring his green eyes into Knowledge's brown ones whose were up higher than his. "Now…" he began, "I'm certain you do have a hearing problem, Knowledge. So I'll lay it down for you, simple and clean. You're going to search these streets with Kwandao. She will fill you in. And you're going to keep that mouth of yours in check. So the very next thing I want to hear from you is 'yes' that you understand what I just said."

With that, Sharp let Knowledge down but didn't release him. Knowledge mumbled out a 'yeah' for Sharp but then saw that he was still staring at him.

"I have no ties with Terry other than we probably take up one half of the mind apiece. We shared one common enemy and that's it. You know what that mean to you, Knowledge? His friends…are not necessarily my friends." Sharp could hear the quick intake of breath from Knowledge as well as feel the glare from Kwandao on his side. With that as his parting, he let Knowledge go, noticing that where he had grabbed him with his right hand, there were small, pinprick like spots of red on his shirt. He could feel the dull throbbing in his hand that would probably become painful later, but he set that matter of the mind aside.

"Me and you, Vega." Sharp said, walking out of the archway with Vega and right around the corner into a nearby alleyway.

"You're clearly not Terry…" Vega said as they left behind a newly humbled Knowledge and a stunned Kwandao who began walking away as a pair in the opposite direction.


	16. A Silver Eyed Spirit of Vengeance

Janet, if she could've know, was probably no less than a couple blocks away from where Knowledge, Vega, Kwandao and Sharp had been arguing. But she was peeking from window storefront to window storefront, searching. But her search was bringing up a big fat zero so far.

It was probably luck that right at that moment she saw, of all people, Jamie walking down the street toward her.

"Janet!" he called out, walking alone.

Janet stood in semi-shocked silence and without meaning to, turned to search the skyline for the Millstone Tower that not all that long ago, he'd been flying toward. "How'd you…?" she asked after a moment.

Jamie smiled slightly, "Well, it wasn't easy, but I'll tell you about how later. Meantime, I need to find everyone. I found one of the guys that set us up. You won't believe his story…"

And so, that's how it went for a little more than an hour. Janet and Jamie searched for and managed to track down Sharp and Vega. Jamie, after getting the same treatment both Sharp and Knowledge received from Vega about his whereabouts and his appearance, told them about the man he'd managed to grab. Sharp was adamant about going to see this guy immediately instead of searching for Kwandao and Knowledge. He let Kwandao know where he was heading to, what was going on, and to meet with the rest of them as soon as possible.

Jamie led them, of all places, back to Natasha's store front where she regularly met with Clan Prime. None of the kids that normally frequented the area were around and black shades had been drawn on the usually open windows.

The doorway to the store opened up from the inside.

"Natasha!" Sharp said kindly.

She smiled warmly at Sharp. "I'm alright, thanks to Jamie."

Sharp looked over at Jamie who just shrugged his shoulders like what he did was nothing. "Might be hope for you yet, Jamie."

Jamie retorted. "Just setting a example for you to follow, Sharp." And it was only after he said it that he realized it was the first time that he'd cracked a joke at Sharp.

"Sure…" Sharp said, turning his face away from Jamie so he couldn't see his real reaction. "So he's in there, huh?"

Natasha stepped away from the door, out of Sharp and the rest of their path. "Once we got out of that tower, we decided to hold him up here. We couldn't walk through the streets with him so Jamie decided to go get the rest of you and bring you all back here. Speaking of which, where's Catravious and Kwandao?"

Sharp looked behind him, "I told them where we were heading, but we went ahead. So they should be here soon. Unless our luck got burned up grabbing this guy…"

Natasha cringed slightly, and asked, "You believe in luck?"

"…I don't think so." Sharp said truthfully after thinking a moment. "But if it does exist, this guy's ran out." And with that he pushed open the doors into the store and disappeared inside, along with Jamie and Janet. Natasha remained outside with a lingering Vega who hadn't made a move to go inside.

"It's been a while, Vega." Natasha said in a manner of greeting.

"It has." Vega said soberly. "The last national tournament, right?"

"No, Battle City, actually. Although I'd been knocked out before I had a chance to find you and duel you."

Vega remembered his encounter with her after that reminder. It was in front of this very store that he'd seen the end of a massive attack that caught his attention. Walking here, he'd found her, Catravious and Jamie after a duel where Catravious had won his way to the latter stages of the tournament. He recalled Janet had been there as well after a moment. What was less than a week ago seemed like lifetimes ago now.

"Ah." was his response to that.

Natasha fixed him up with a glare. "Something's troubling you." she said with a matter-of-fact tone.

"I just got jumped is all." Vega fibbed.

"No, more than that." Natasha said, looking closely at him. "You look trashed…but more than that, you look dead to the world, Vega."

Vega could only dryly laugh at the closer than expected analysis of his feelings. "Maybe I am." he said, moving toward the doorway.

Natasha arched a blonde eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a smart girl, Natasha, can't you figure it out?" Vega said, moving to grab the door's handle. He was abruptly stopped by Natasha clamping a surprising strong hand over his wrist and moving to block the door from opening with her body.

Natasha's blue eyes started swirling with anger as she eyed the golden haired African-American. "I've just gotten dragged into something that seems to concern you and Sharp and the others more than me. And as bait. So you can quit with the games, Vega, because I'm in no mood to play them!"

"You want to hit me?" was the surprising response.

"…What?" Natasha said, stepping back like he'd surprised her with a jab to her chin himself.

"I said do you want to hit me?"

After a moment Natasha walked through the doorway into the store, almost bumping into Jamie. He couldn't be sure but he could swear she was mumbling. Something like 'felt good to hit something.' Or something like that. He did notice that Vega walked in a moment afterwards rubbing the side of his cheek with the top of his hand. He looked between the two, wondering if what he thought had happened _did_ happen.

Janet had moved over to a far side of the store away from Vega, Natasha and Jamie. Sharp, however, was standing in front of a standing Lim. His hands had been bound behind him.

"So you're…Lim." Sharp said after a moment.

"Terry Hairston, 16 years old. A…pleasure." Lim said slowly, keeping a good amount of time between the former and latter part of his statement.

Sharp saw in his mind no real reason to let the guy believe he was Terry so he gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Nope. That's Sharp. 1 week old."

Now Lim scowled at Sharp with a look of confusion on his face. Sharp noticed and like before, he was quick to apply force to the pressure point at Lim's collar, which caused the man to bend at the knee slightly.

"No questions from you, just yet. I've got plenty of my own." Sharp said and released him. He started to walk in wide circle around him. "First one is where's the rest of them?"

"The rest of what?" Lim asked.

"Your little band of masked thieves that mirrored our likenesses so well."

Lim scoffed at that and took a seat in a chair that was nearby and seemed to try to lean back into it as much as he could with his hands behind him. "Sleepers." he offered.

"Sleepers…?" Sharp repeated, wanting more of a explanation than one word.

"People that believe in what we do that are around the world. They help when it's needed but live lives like normal. Normal people you'll never find."

"Wanna bet?" Sharp challenged.

Lim countered, "You won't. None of them knows the other. They all took their orders from me. They all have moved on from here. You won't find them."

Sharp grunted in displeasure. "How convenient."

"Quite." Lim agreed.

Sharp twitched, but didn't act on the implied urge. "So why us then?"

Lim shrugged his shoulders. "With you, probably because of that little trinket around your neck. But as far as the rest of them, your guess is as good as mine."

Sharp looked back at the doorway. "So that probably explains Kwandao and Knowledge too…" he said to himself. "So how did you copy our faces so well?"

Lim shrugged. "Masks."

"Masks have _never_ looked that good…." Sharp said, relaying the thought everyone had about Lim claiming to use masks.

"Masks and computers." Lim said after a moment. To the confused look in Sharp's eyes, he said, "The masks are there…they're just enhanced with computers to look better than real. That's the magic. You westerners take what is given to you so easily; you don't question it. I assume no one decided to inspect the video closer. It's not perfect but it, as you say, got the job done."

Lim continued. "I took up a mission for the dynasty, I didn't _make_ the mission."

"The dynasty?" Sharp asked.

"The Shang Dynasty."

The eyes of Sharp, Jamie and Vega shot open at that. Sharp and Jamie because they'd read about the Shang Dynasty of ages ago that was disputed to even truly exist for a time. Vega because when he'd confronted Savior, the man said he was the leader of a people that were called the Shang Dynasty.

"The Shang Dynasty is long gone! They were a civilization from thousands of years ago!" Sharp exclaimed.

"Then I guess I'm a liar." Lim simply countered, cocking his head to the side.

"That's very possible." Sharp agreed, moving to start cracking his knuckles.

"No, he's telling the truth." Vega said, moving away from Jamie and Natasha to stand beside Sharp. "There is a Shang Dynasty out there somewhere."

Lim reversed the roles and asked Vega how was he so sure of that. Vega looked down at the man, looking to gage his reaction to his answer.

"Because I was approached by your leader."

Vega watched and aside from widening his eyes slightly, Lim didn't do anything else to confer surprise to his statement. Sharp and the others were a different story and Sharp demanded to know why he was approached. Vega deflected the question by not answering it and asking Lim why they wanted the Dragon Bones.

Lim's seeming easy going attitude to answering questions faded away as a more somber and grizzled looking man took his place in answering, "Because we're trying to save the world."

Jamie interjected, "You were saying that same nonsense in our duel."

Lim scowled at Jamie, "Because you seem to think yourself some kind of hero that will rise above the challenge. You all do. This is no game. I will not task children with such a responsibility when they're irresponsible of themselves. Not I nor Savior and the dynasty."

"So why do you need them, the Dragon Bones?" Sharp asked.

Lim inhaled a long breath. "I _need_ to keep them away from you. Whatever powers those Millennium Items of yours may have, it will only be trouble for you to obtain those Dragon Bones."

"Long ago, the entire world was being ravaged and being led down a path to destruction by ten demons that ruled over all. No one knows where they came from. No one knows what their real intentions were. All that's known is that they were evil and nearly destroyed the Earth you stand on now. They were truly immortal, there was no weapon that could harm them and no domain that would give them pause. It was my people, my ancestors that found a way to banish those demons away. They lured them all to the old capital city of the Shang Dynasty. Somehow, they managed to do as they intended and banished them away. The cost…was the entire village. Everyone but the children. The men and women and elders all died somehow in the struggle."

Sharp could sense all around him a feeling that there were people here that were sympathizing with Lim. He was not. He wasn't moved by what was a sad tale from the past that had no bearing on him. "What's that got to do with us the Dragon Bones?"

"The story says that they were sealed into the very Dragon Bones we stole back. Each one of the demons was locked inside of an individual Dragon Bone. It isn't known how they were put in there, but the threat is so great that our leader didn't want to take a chance of them getting lost to history again. Or take the chance that something…" he nodded his head toward Sharp's Millennium Puzzle as he said something. "with as little known about it collide with them. At worst, they might re-release the demons to the world."

Sharp nodded, noticing the surprised look of Janet, Natasha and Jamie. But it was Vega that had asked the next question.

"Who's your leader?"

Lim screwed up his face at Vega. "You say you've met him, King of Games."

Vega recalled his memory of him. "An older man, maybe in his 40's, with a short haircut. He also has a large scar over the left side of his face. And red eyes."

Lim nodded, "So you _have_ met him. Savior."

"Savior?" Sharp repeated.

Vega, who'd been more active and interested in events ever since Lim mentioned the Shang Dynasty, explained for them all, "Savior is the man I described. A cunning and calculating man that leads the Shang Dynasty."

"A guy named Savior with _red_ eyes?" Janet repeated.

Vega nodded.

"Sounds like the devil…" Janet said icily.

Sharp turned to face Vega. "So again, here's my question for you, Vega. How do you know so much about Savior and the Shang Dynasty?"

Here is where Vega returned to his unnaturally quiet self. Asking him how he knew what he knew only served to remind him of his newfound lineage. So all he offered was, "He visited me while I was in Japan."

"What, the two of you sit down for hot tea and fortune cookies?" Sharp grumbled.

Vega didn't answer.

"Perhaps I can answer that." Lim said, interrupting their brief conversation but smirking as he spoke. "Savior is a leader that would only dare to meet with an enemy only if he was sure that enemy had something to offer him."

Sharp's mind took that statement in and broke it down immediately. He turned, squaring himself so he could look right into the King of Games' eyes. Now, the introverted and less talkative Vega, along with his odd mannerisms had an explanation to them. "You sold me out?"

As untrusting as Lim should be to the rest of them, they couldn't help but feel that Vega may have done as Sharp suggested. He'd been so different from what they knew from only at most a week ago. It was a plausible, if radical, explanation to things.

"I didn't sell you out."

Vega said it with no emotion to his voice, which was not the reaction Sharp had expected. He'd expected outrage at such an accusation, a livid denial, maybe even a jab at his chin for suggesting it by Vega. He'd gotten the furthest thing from that as a response. "You aren't doing a good job of convincing me, Vega. You just show up out the blue saying you were in Japan, you're acting weird, you knew about the Shang Dynasty and Savior, and I trust you no further than I can kick you."

Vega and Sharp continued to stare at each other only until Sharp turned back to Lim. "But I still would trust him over you, Lim. _If barely._"

Lim nodded. "Wise."

Sharp blinked. _He's agreeing? Something's not right here. He's answering questions too easily..._

"So why did you set us up?" Jamie asked.

"Convenience." Lim and Vega said together. Sharp was having trouble deciding on whom to believe in this. The criminal in Lim or the suspected traitor in Vega.

Janet perked up, "So where's this Savior hiding so I might thank him for destroying my life?"

Lim looked at the young woman, "China. In Great Shang, the new capital city of the Shang Dynasty."

"And where's that?" Janet continued.

"Hidden." was all that Lim said.

"Hidden like the Dragon Bones." she complained.

"They're not hidden. I have them on their way back to Savior so he can properly relocate that dangerous weapon."

"On a private jet back to People Republic of China that leaves tonight." Sharp said bitterly.

"Flight 1025 out of Millstone Airport. I'm surprised you know that much. It would've had me on it as well, but of course, none of you will be free to use this information." Lim said.

Sharp asked him why and Lim actually smirked. He looked to Jamie. "Didn't I tell you, you were being hunted?"

If that was a cue, the chaos that erupted from within and without the store was perfectly timed. The accusation that flew from Jamie's lips of 'it's a setup!' was matched perfectly with the shattering of the store's front door and swarming of quickly moving bodies moving inside. Men and women of the law brandishing pistols and rifles shouted over each other, yelling instructions, but one was more common than the others.

"POLICE!"

"This is not good. This is _not_ good…"

Knowledge watched with trepidation the scene unfolding in the store from his hiding spot just across the street from behind a parked car. Kwandao was crouched down with him but she was silent, watching the police storm Natasha's place. Not even minutes before they were about to enter the store, they both had seen a few police cruisers coming toward them. They hid behind the car they were posted at now only to watch them exit their cars, huddle briefly and then storm inside.

"I gotta do something…" Knowledge said, fidgeting on his haunches.

Kwandao, ever alert despite her demure attitude, looked at him with an incredulous look. "What _can_ you possibly do right now? There's too many of them!" she hissed.

"I gotta do _something!_" Knowledge again insisted. "I'm not going to leave them there to get-"

Kwandao shifted over and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him in close. "And what am i?" she icily demanded. "Just your little tagalong? I want to help them too, but don't be stupid! I'm not your enemy here, Knowledge."

Knowledge swatted her hands away, grumbling at her with something that came from within his own soul. "Yes. Yes, you are, Kwandao. Until you can prove otherwise. And don't call me Knowledge."

Kwandao dipped her head and said nothing more. Knowledge glared at her and turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. Right then, the officers were starting to march them all out of the store. He saw a guy that he'd never seen before leading the way but in handcuffs. He assumed that must be the guy that Jamie had caught. After him, he saw Jamie, Natasha, Sharp, Vega and lastly Janet.

Seeing Janet like that stirred something within him, and he felt tears begin to well up. He forced them back, not wanting to shed unnecessary tears.

All of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and then everything went black.

Kwandao looked down at Knowledge's crumpled form, then at her own hand. A urge to kick him was squelched.

She quickly stood up and looked over at the group of them still standing by the police cars. Janet and Natasha immediately saw her and Kwandao could see the surprise in their faces. Her own face had no such emotion to it. Her head was low, and her bangs covered her eyes. Her lips were drawn into a thin line. She stepped from behind the car and walked toward them and the officers with confident steps.

By this point, Sharp and the others had long noticed her approach and were hoping she'd hide or run or something before the police noticed her. But their thoughts were collectively broken when a male officer who'd been writing something in a notepad saw her and called over to the other officers. Immediately, they recognized her as the sixth one they hadn't apprehended in the store. There were fourteen officers in total and four of them immediately brandished their side arms and shouted for her to get on the ground.

Kwandao just kept walking forward.

Their demands became louder, more insistent.

Kwandao didn't act on their orders.

On an order from another officer, they holstered their pistols and instead pulled out electric tasers. They issued a final warning.

Kwandao continued to come toward them.

On an unheard command, the four officers fired their weapons. Eight needle-tipped darts with thin, yellow cords shot from the guns. A pair of them lodged themselves on Kwandao's arm, two pairs in her chest, and the last pair in her neck just above her collarbone. The guns discharged their current into her body, the purpose to paralyze and immobilize her.

And she fell back and laughed. Inexplicably, she could move and she moved to snatch the needles away from her body and bunched them together. And just as inexplicably, she jammed them back into her. Right where her heart would be.

"Try it again, you missed last time…" she inaudibly whispered. The officers didn't hear her, but when they saw her stick herself again with the electrically charged spikes, they didn't hesitate in trying their tasers again. This time, the only reaction they got from her was a slight wobble in her step.

"What the…?" one of the officers stammered.

Kwandao shook her lowered head and again pulled the needles free from her. And she opened her mouth and ran the tips of the darts across her tongue. Assuring the officers there was no malfunction in their weapons, they all could see sparks dance across her outstretched tongue. And as intimidating a sight that was, when they looked a little higher into her eyes, more than a few of them felt a shiver down to their spine. Her eyes were a shimmering silver.

"Pathetic…" she growled, throwing the needles and cords away. She looked down at her right hand, cupped into a claw. She and everyone gathered watched and saw wisps and threads of what looked like black clouds materialize and start to swarm around her outstretched hand and arm. She lowered herself and swept her arm in a wide arc. This flung the strands away from her hand and they all encircled the four officers that were facing her and the ten that were standing and watching. The threads expanded to become almost like dark clouds that formed around them.

Sharp, watching the events happen was immediately hit with a memory. Not one of his memories, but one that Terry had. And as it played through in his head, he saw how Terry had experienced something very similar to what was being played out before him. In a duel between him and a man who called himself Scale, Re'-Sha had appeared after the duel and used something similar on him. The end result was that it killed Scale and left no trace of his body.

But while a part of him wanted to yell out to try to stop her, not only were his hands bound behind him, he'd been paralyzed in another way. Those eyes. Those cold eyes were the only thing in his short life to have ever given him reason to pause and they were there again. He'd been sure that Re'-Sha's memory had been wiped after the duel at Battle City. There should be no way she could be here! Sharp's voice caught in his throat as he saw the coffin-like clouds all around him. He could hear nothing from them.

Lim, unfamiliar with the Millennium Items or their properties, let his usually stoic façade drop and he looked around himself with stunned amazement.

Natasha was shocked at the display before her. Only days ago had she been shown that the Millennium Puzzle Terry and Sharp wore had special powers. Now, not only had Kwandao shown off hers, it reminded her of the spirit that Jamie had told her about. The one that resided within the Millennium Ring.

Jamie, once he saw those cold, silver eyes felt his body become numb.

Now she was moving toward Sharp. She had only been yards away initially but with a few steps she was face-to-face with Sharp. Everyone watched Sharp, and she quietly spoke, "Trust me."

Sharp was so stunned at those two words, the very last he expected to hear, that he almost didn't feel the handcuffs fall away from his wrists with a snap of her fingers. Everyone's but Lim's fell away and clattered against the pavement.

"Gather around me." she commanded. They all seemingly understood it was an order for all of them and they moved to form a semicircle around her. A wide semicircle, but it was Jamie that questioned aloud where Knowledge was.

Kwandao whipped her head toward Jamie with a look of absolute fury, baring her teeth at the young man. Jamie literally jumped back. It was an odd groaning noise that he heard from behind him that made him look at the car that Kwandao had hidden herself behind. He and the rest of them watched an odd white strip form through the center of the car and it seemed as if it was getting longer. Right then, Jamie realized that the metal was stretching and something was _pulling_ the car apart and with a sick crack, the vehicle separated into two pieces and flew off in individual directions. It revealed an unconscious Knowledge lying on the ground.

An odd yellow glow started to surround his body right then and, while still unconscious, he floated over toward them. His body rotated and he landed on his feet but he looked so lifeless that it seemed that yellow aura was holding him aloft and upright. His feet touched ground and his closed eyes were getting bored into by Kwandao's silver ones. The intense, furious look had never left her and she narrowed her eyes to slits with her teeth looking more like fangs. She looked poised to rip into Knowledge.

She suddenly looked away from him and the aura that had been surrounding him blinked out of existence. Jamie quickly moved to scoop his arms under Knowledge's armpits to hold up his body. The direction she'd turned her head put her right into Lim's eye sight.

"This is the pathetic worm that made my life hell?" she asked no one in particular. She registered a nod from Janet. It was all she needed.

Cocking her fist back, she landed a perfect haymaker onto Lim's chin. The girl's small size hid surprising strength and without his arms to balance him, he stumbled back and fell to the ground on his side, groaning loudly. He swished around in his mouth and spat out a small torrent of blood.

Like Knowledge before him, a similar aura surrounded Lim and righted him back to his feet against his body's will. He was face to face with Kwandao again. Despite his usual stone face, he couldn't help but panic.

But she didn't rear back to hit him again. Instead, she stepped closer to him. She draped her arms over his shoulders much like a lover would and pressed herself up against him. She stayed that way for a moment, then backed up and took one of her hands and caressed his cheek softly. She saw him look over at her with a confused expression on his face. Suddenly, the hand that was caressing his cheek slipped under his jaw and with a wicked grip, she grabbed his chin and held him steady. She saw him flinch in anticipation of another hit but she didn't move to hit him. When he opened his eyes again, he looked into hers, ones she was channeling with energy and making them seem to be swirling.

"When the time comes, I'll make you _truly_ pay for this." Kwandao said with a deceptively sweet looking smile on her face. She released him and saw him slump backwards a bit. At that same moment, the fourteen black clouds that had surrounded the police officers fell away. Contrary to what Sharp thought, the men and women were still there, but as the clouds faded, they collapsed to the ground. Everyone could see they were still breathing. They were still alive.

"We're leaving." was all Kwandao said. "How was this bastard going to escape from here with the Dragon Bones?"

Hesitantly, Jamie spoke and told her about the private plane that Lim said would carry him and the Dragon Bones back to China and to the Shang Dynasty.

"Hold onto my shoulders," she commanded, but then pointed to the slumped figure of Knowledge and the statue-like Lim. "Except those two."

She again closed her eyes and without complaint they all moved to gently stack their hands on top of each other on either of Kwandao's shoulders. But Sharp was hesitant. Without opening her eyes, she turned her head toward Sharp's general direction. "I trusted you when dealing with Knowledge, trust me with this now." she asked. Sharp slowly and carefully laid his hand on top of Kwandao's shoulder.

Whatever Kwandao intended to do began the second Sharp's hand touched down onto her. Almost like an eclipse, the sky darkened around them but if you looked skyward, the sun was still shining brightly. But as more time passed, the darker it became. It became so dark that the sun resembled the moon in its pale light. After a while, it too faded into the darkness. It was very quiet around them, and they could only hear their breathing. Suddenly, instead of just seeing their surroundings as if night was enveloping them, true blackness envelop them all.

"What the hell?" Vega couldn't help but yell out.

The blackness around them was so great that they couldn't see in front of them. They could feel their hands on Kwandao's shoulder and they held on tighter lest they lose their grip on her and fall into this blackness. There was no difference in having your eyes open as opposed to closed. The blackness was still and unforgiving like the vacuum of space. It only lasted for seconds, but for one that hadn't experienced it before, it felt significantly longer. To be denied your sense of sight so completely was nerve-wracking to say the least.

When light started to shine through on them again, they realized they were in a different location. The first thing they noticed wasn't with their eyes but with their feet. Instead of hard pavement, they stood on something a lot softer. The air that blew past them was forced and cool but not chilly. Using their eyes, they saw a row of plush seats and carpeted flooring. Above them was an arched ceiling that went on for a short way until in one direction, it let to a door and in the other, there was just a flat wall.

Lim looked at the surroundings and seemed to mutter something in Mandarin that wasn't understood. But Kwandao looked at him and savagely smiled at him. "Oh yes, I did."

Lim snarled at the girl. The two of them were standing face to face, so Kwandao shot out with her left hand and rested the palm of her hand on top of Lim's forehead. She said something that none one gathered could understand but Lim but before he could say anything, he fell down in a heap.

"What did you do?"

"What did you say?"

"I made him sleep awhile. Much like Kno-" and then she stopped. Casting a look behind her shoulder at the slumped over form of Knowledge. A sound could be heard coming from her throat. "I told Lim he talks too much." she said, not finishing her first line of thought.

"Where are we?" Natasha asked, taking her hand off Kwandao's shoulder and looking around a bit more closely.

Kwandao turned and looked out one of the square glass holes in the walls and replied, "Welcome to flight 1025 from Millstone to the People's Republic of China."

Five minutes later, everyone was seated and looking at Kwandao, who stood in the main aisle of the jet like a stewardess addressing her passengers. But no one felt comfortable in the plush leather chairs having to look up at Kwandao.

Before she even said anything, she closed her eyes and a soft light began to radiate from behind her, where she had concealed her Millennium Ring. When that light faded away, she opened her eyes again. Gone were the silver bullets and intense facial features from before. Now the placid grey and soft tones of the face of Kwandao truly returned. Sharp noticed the subtle but significant difference.

"Just what the hell was that?" Sharp demanded of Kwandao.

Kwandao looked over at Sharp, "It's…hard to explain."

"Try," Sharp insisted with some slight annoyance. "I'm sure everyone will appreciate the effort even if you can't explain it fully."

Kwandao took a breath and exhaled slowly. Grabbing around her neck and pulling her Millennium Ring toward the front of her chest, she looked down at it as she said, "I think it's what's left of Re'-Sha."

"But Re'-Sha is gone…" Jamie hoarsely whispered. It was apparent the mention of Re'-Sha still sent shivers through about all present.

Kwandao shook her head in disagreement. It was hard to tell if she was sad or just tired when she said, "No…no, she isn't. Her memories are gone, but her mind is in there."

"So that _was_ her." Janet said.

"Well, yes and no." Kwandao said with a slight bit of hesitation. "Re'-Sha lived for thousands of years in this ring. I'm certain she remembers nothing. But there's something within her that just erasing her memory didn't eliminate. Her emotions, passions, sentiments about everything remained there for-"

"Wait." Sharp said, holding up a hand to stop her. "So you're saying there's nothing there but a bundle of emotions?"

Kwandao thought on it for a moment and agreed with him.

"But there's no personality to it." he stated.

"What do you mean?" Kwandao asked.

Janet seemed to know where he was going with this and answered for him. "I think he means, that there's a sea of emotions there, but no mind in control of them."

Kwandao nodded. "I think that's what I tapped into. A spirit of vengeance."

"But why?" Sharp asked.

Now Kwandao looked crossly at the still unconscious figure of Knowledge. He was seated next to a similarly unconscious Lim, who'd been knocked out the second they'd arrived in that jet.

"Grr…." She said with viciousness that was not in her usual character.

"Something happened between you and Knowledge…" Jamie guessed. "But can you forgive him for it? The last thing we need is division."

Sharp mumbled to himself, "The ass probably deserved it…"

And very uncharacteristically, she walked down the aisle past them all cutting off the conversation but stopped briefly at Knowledge's seat. She looked down at his unconscious form and hovered her hand above the top of his head. The same yellow aura as before wrapped around her hand and she saw him stir slightly. The aura faded from her hand and she said as she took a seat behind and opposite Knowledge, "No promises."

As Knowledge stirred and opened his eyes, he took a look around his unfamiliar surroundings and mumbled, "Where am I?"

"On a jet." came Jamie's reply.

"Jamie?" he muttered, wiping his eyes and looking around. He saw Jamie looking over the top of a seat at him with Natasha beside him. They were indeed on a jet, and saw that Natasha was in the window seat and Jamie was in the aisle seat. Across from them sat Sharp in an aisle seat and Vega in the seat next to him by the window. Ahead of the two of them, he saw Janet seated alone. Turning to the side, he saw that he'd been seated next to some guy that was asleep.

"How'd we get here?" he asked.

"That's a good question, because I never heard an answer I liked." Vega said with a bass to his voice.

"Wait…" Knowledge rubbed his temple, speaking his last memories as he recalled them. "I remember getting to that store…then seeing a bunch of police cars arrive…you guys were in handcuffs and then…nothing? What am I missing?"

He saw Natasha and Jamie above him glance at each other then at something behind him. Leaning over the armrest of his chair, he noticed Kwandao sitting in the back by herself with her arms and legs crossed and eyes closed. Knowledge looked back up at the two step-siblings. "What about her?"

"She…basically saved us." Jamie said.

Knowledge's reaction was to roll his eyes. Looking out the corners of his eyes, he said, "I think I'd remember her doing something like that."

"What _do_ you remember, then?" Kwandao said from her seat, but not opening her eyes.

"Was I talking to you, Kwandao?" Knowledge sassily snipped.

Two things happened at that moment. One was that Kwandao snapped her eyes open and that, out of his peripheral vision, Knowledge saw Sharp stand suddenly. Sharp's face was facing away from Knowledge but even from his angle, he could see the telltale glow from his Millennium Puzzle filling the area. But likewise, he saw the same thing happening from Kwandao's and he could see her face. It was twisted into a scowl that even with her eyes closed, it looked menacing.

"Why, Sharp?" she asked out of the blue. Now everyone looked up at Sharp who seemed to be struggling mightily with something.

"…You trusted me before, I trusted you just now with that….teleporting, I guess. You stopped me from doing something out of anger, I'm doing the same." Sharp replied, but his voice sounded strained with no real reason to be.

A flash of realization passed over Kwandao's face as her eyebrow's arched and she seemed to relax a bit. A moment afterwards, the glow from his Millennium Puzzle faded and he sunk into his seat with an audible sigh.

"Now, what'd _I _miss here?" Janet said, watching the whole thing unfold from her seat in the front. She saw Sharp look up at her.

"Remember our little fight in RJ's store?"

Janet nodded, and then realized what he was talking about. "You stopped her from needlessly hurting Catravious. But how?"

Kwandao responded this time. "He held me down in my seat and kept me from…" she didn't finish her sentence. She let everyone form their own ending to that.

_Yeah, and it took damn near everything I had to do just that…_Sharp thought to himself.

The plane had settled into an uneasy silence for a moment after that but it was broken by Vega. "I never agreed to go on your odyssey."

Sharp, who was right beside him, asked, "You have something better to do since you're now an escaped fugitive?"

Sharp stood up and stepped up to the front of the plane so he could see everyone. "No one's stopping you from leaving, because I'm not going to babysit any of you. Kwandao pulled us out of a bad situation and right now, the only way I see us getting justice is to take this straight to Savior."

His eyes strayed over to Natasha. "But you don't have to go, Natasha. You've been a great help but I don't want you doing anything you don't want to."

Natasha smirked at Sharp, "I got used as bait against you. I want to see the end of this come just as much as you, Sharp. Just so I can put my boot on Savior's throat."

Janet smiled from her seat. _Just like I'd expect out of Natasha..._

"So what about the rest of you? If you're with me and Natasha and want to take this fight to Savior in China, raise your hand."

Sharp immediately saw Natasha's, Kwandao's, Janet's and Jamie's hands go up. Vega and Knowledge lingered.

"What's holding you back, Knowledge?" Sharp asked.

"Is this really an effort to go and clear our names…or a jaunt for vengeance?"

"_Both._" came the reply in back from Kwandao. She resisted the urge to insult him and just plainly asked, "Isn't that what you want?"

With that, Knowledge slowly raised his hand. "I'm not interested in vengeance, just justice."

"Vega? What's your complaint?" Sharp asked, now turning to the reluctant man.

Vega stood and glared at Sharp. "You really have no idea what you're toying with in trying to take this fight to Savior."

"What's that mean? That we should just roll over and let him do as he wants? We've got surprise on our side." Sharp countered. "Before we say anything else, I want you to do something for me, Vega. Once again, are you with Savior?"

Vega's mind instantly flashed to when he first encountered Savior. Little quotes he made came to mind.

_You would consider my offer?...You say I'm destroying your future, Lamar Vega. In order to have a future, it is built upon the foundations of the past...Don't insult me. I am a leader, a general. I don't go to a battle without knowing all that I can know about my enemy, even if I wanted to turn that enemy to an ally...I'm convinced you'll come to my side, Vega. I'm so convinced that I will let you go...what you see, yet cannot see._

"No, I'm not allied with him." Vega said.

Sharp studied him while Vega debated within himself. Savior said to him the future is built on the foundations of the past. But Vega wasn't sure as to which he should consider his true past. The one he created for himself as a duelist and a man or the one created by his parents and siblings which are his roots.

"Alright. I'll take your word for it, Vega." Sharp said. "I'm starting to realize there's something on your mind that you don't want to share. You can keep your secrets. They're yours to release. But if you're going to be a liability to me…to all of us…then you're no good to us."

One last quote came to mind from Savior. _Tell me, Lamar Vega, am I good or evil?_ For all the things he'd done to have him jailed, he also opened his eyes to his past. And that couldn't be taken back now. He'd forever know what the circumstances to his birth would be, but was this a case of him trying to shoot the messenger with the terrible message?

At one point, he didn't really care for what happened in his life. All he wanted to do was to be left alone. But he'd been pulled head first into this since he returned to the states and had been met by Knowledge. Their own futures could well depend on the help he offered or denied. But was he sure of which he would do? Offer help or deny it?

He couldn't answer that. And until he could, he bitterly admitted, he was just what Sharp pegged him to be. A liability.

Some time later, a pilot and co-pilot made their way to the jet where Sharp and the others were. As they'd been paid to do in advance, they were to haul one bit of cargo and its owners. They'd not expected to see eight boys and girls aboard but if they'd already found their way on, they assumed they'd been cleared and were good to go.

They warmed up the engines and ran through their preflight checklists and safeties. Without complaint, they taxied onto the runway, got their clearances from the radio tower, wished the radar controller good luck and powered their jet into the skies above.

Inside the plane, with seemingly nothing more to discuss at the moment, the various passengers all either decided to sleep, ponder the events of the last few days or just sit silently.

None of them noticed the in-chair radios that could tune into local and international broadcasts. It was at this moment that a broadcast was going out that would've been of significant interest to them even if the radios could've picked it up.

_So you're telling me that they all escaped you but you're not sure how._

_I'm telling you, I'm not nuts here! I swear on everything, we shot the girl with the tasers and they didn't work. And then, I was knocked out with something. When I came to, they were all gone. You can ask anyone else, we all saw the same thing. And we all can't remember._

_They even got away with the kidnapped girl?_

_You mean the one that was holed up on the top of the Millstone building? Yeah, no idea how they got her but she was there too. We also had a John Doe, asian descent, late 20's or so, slim build, black hair and eyes. He's gone too. _

_Of course, you searched the area…_

_Absolutely, even called in a couple of the stupid news choppers to help out on the sly that was hanging around the tower. No trace of them._

_I don't get it. There's something about this thing that stinks._

_What you mean, chief?_

_The nerds in the tech labs are telling me that that security tape was tampered with. No telling just what yet, but it's been doctored for sure. On top of that, the hair that was there at that museum flagged something in Interpol and they ain't telling what. All I got is that it don't concern these kids. Stuff keeps stacking up that implicates them less and less. Why is this case working backwards on me?_

_Chief…_

_And to top it off, you had them and you lost them. _

_So you're thinking…that they're innocent? _

_You forget the basis of the law, son? Innocent until proven guilty. But even if this case seems like a setup, they still need to answer my questions. You'll hear it hear first, officer. In my heart of hearts, I don't wanna, but I ain't gonna bend the law for these runts. Until they've been caught, they're fugitives-_

_Well, they been fugitives, Chief. Then they were just wanted for questioning since that Interpol thing has come up, so now what? They're fugitives again?_

_They made off with a kidnapped girl and a John Doe. As well as probably international goods that China will want back. Sorry, man. They ain't fugitives; they're traitors to their country._

_But they're just kids!_

_I know it. So go do your job._

"So the Dragon Bones are on their way?" Savior said.

"Yes, Savior." Rina replied.

"And what of Lim's plan that he communicated to you?"

"I don't know yet." Rina said. "But if it works, he won't be heard from."

Savior sighed, "Yes. Using himself as a lure to try to gather them all up and tipping off the local authorities to have them all detained. It's a good plan and I honor his courage for attempting it."

Rina was silent as was Savior, who seemed to be thinking of something. When Rina noticed this, she asked what was he thinking of.

"Hmm…of possibilities."

"Possibilities?" Rina said.

"Yes…" Savior said and rubbed his chin in thought. "But don't concern yourself, Rina. I know you must feel for the loss of one of your rapiers."

"Lim was well on his way to becoming a great rapier." Rina said with some sadness to her voice. "He'll be missed."

Rina then asked to be excused and Savior let her do so, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

"What was your last move, Terry?" he said to the walls. "I ensnared your black knight in Lamar Vega, I captured one of your pawns in that girl, Natasha. I must wonder if you've countered and captured my own bishop in Lim."

Savior tilted his head down to look at the floor, still in thought and still speaking to himself. "But that bishop plays such a crucial role to me, Terry. If I liken you to a king…he's very capable of capturing you himself. And if you did manage to capture my bishop…"

Savior smiled, "Well, if you did, you still have not evaded me. Capturing my bishop simply pulled you closer to my domain. I have been to your city, do you know that? I have met with one of your comrades in that girl Janet. I'm sure I can bend this black knight to my side as well as your other black knight in Lamar Vega. I can crush your two bishops in those two boys, Catravious and Jamie. You and the queen cannot stand against an army. Is that your intention?"

"I welcome your next move, Terry. I look forward to it."


	17. Welcome to China

Somehow people believe that when the sun rises on another part of the world that they're unfamiliar with, it rises in a different way. It shines and illuminates things one would classify as weird. But it's no different from the sunrise that you see in whatever place you may call home.

That being said, there's a bit of difference watching sunrise above the clouds.

Sharp looked on at the view of a section of the sky beginning to turn from midnight blue to a warm crimson and felt nothing from it. He'd been either looking through that window or idly listening to other's conversation on the long trip from the United States to China. Both had long since bored him. But when the plane he was on began a descent through the clouds, something they hadn't done yet, he took notice.

"Hmm." Sharp heard Vega hum aloud from the seat next to him.

The jet broke through the cloud layer and from their viewpoint, the ground below looked no different from what they'd seen at a similar height when leaving the US. Only here, there was a long, distinct line that seemed to crisscross through the landscape.

"The Great Wall of China." Sharp heard Knowledge say from the seat behind him. "They say you can see it even from space."

"Who cares?" Sharp said, "It's just a wall."

"Feh, go read a book, Sharp. Learn up on something other than kicking ass and Yu-Gi-Oh!" Jamie mumbled. Clearly, the man had just been roused from a nap.

Sharp looked over his shoulder at Jamie, "Found me a leaflet on kicking teeth into the brain. Wanna test it out, smart ass?"

Jamie smirked at Sharp. "Like I'd let you, ghost."

Sharp turned away from him to catch Kwandao, who was sitting in the seat in front of him, rise and tug on the Millennium Ring around her neck.

"We're landing soon." she said to no one in particular. She cast a glance down at the ring around her neck. It caught some of the early morning sunlight on it and shined brilliantly.

"Put that thing away, I'm trying to sleep, woman." grumbled an irritated Knowledge. Some of the glare off Kwandao's ring burned right into his eyes. The remark earned Knowledge a glare from Kwandao and a bearing of her teeth, but nothing else.

Sharp turned and looked at Vega who was sitting across the isle, ignoring the conversation around him and just staring blankly ahead.

_I still don't trust him…he's holding something back…_Sharp thought to himself. But then he looked around himself at the group gathered here. That's what it was, a group. Not a team, just a gathering of people with a common interest of taking out a man they only knew by the pseudonym of Savior. But no bonds between the people. Some hated the others. Some didn't really care for the others. And then some, like Vega, didn't seem to care about anything at all.

Sharp wasn't bothered by the lack of teamwork thing. He was more used to dueling alone and worrying only about himself from day to day. But if he had to take anyone to war with him, all he demanded of them was that they remain loyal. Disloyalty, for some reason he couldn't explain, was unforgivable to Sharp.

He tabled those thoughts. The plane had begun to dip very noticeably and everyone went back to sitting and strapping themselves back into their chairs.

After a few minutes traveling at a lower altitude, the plane started to bank slightly. And it kept banking. It seemed like they were circling. Sharp's window was on the side where the wing was pointing more to the ground and he could see what looked like a two white strips on the ground below them. It must be where they were going to land. But Sharp was on edge, immediately. Being that high in the air, he could see that for miles and miles around, there was a real lack of anything that looked like civilization. All he saw was trees.

"…the hell." he mumbled aloud. He really didn't know what to expect when they arrived in China, but he felt like he expected to set down at some busy airport and not a landing strip almost in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

On the ground, and invisible to Sharp's sight, were a small group of 5 people watching the plane circle as well from the entrance to a hanger near one end of the runways. Behind them were three jeeps, made for offroad terrain as its sides were covered in mud and dead leaves. Among them was one woman.

"Right on time…" she murmured aloud and nodded to the others in the group. Collectively, they returned the nod and walked over to two of the jeeps and started them up, two men to one jeep. Without ceremony, the left the hanger and sped down to the opposite side of the runway. The plane was now on its final approach and it was coming in low from the direction of the hanger.

The woman pressed a hand to her hair to keep it from whipping about wildly. The engines screamed past her and created a turbulent wind even as they died down slowly from its intercontinental trip. She could make out at the end of the runway her team of Rapiers gathering around one of the doorways to the belly of the plane. And even from her distance, she made out a pair walking out of the plane. The pilots, she assumed. But then, what seemed to be a larger group of people started to exit as well but stopped.

A crackling over the last jeep's radio brought her over to the passenger side of the vehicle. She smashed the receive button twice to acknowledge and a voice came in.

"Rina, we have a situation. Lim was captured. "

Rina sucked her teeth, but immediately fell back to her training. "How many?"

"I count 7, not including Lim."

"Armed?"

"No. They're kids. Maybe no older than 19 or 20."

Rina chewed the inside of her cheek.

"Have you secured the Dragon Bones?"

"Working on it. We are trying to distract them and secure the bones. Advise."

Rina let the mic drop from her lips slightly. Lim being captured was an inconvience, but her directive was to bring back the Dragon Bones. The bit of internal drama lasted less than a few moments before, as it had many times before, her mind quelled the voices of her heart.

"I will join you in a moment. Prepare for a quick evacuation."

Rina lowered her voice slightly.

"Also, be ready to take on a prisoner."

* * *

At the plane, things had ground to a screeching halt the moment they, being Sharp and his crew of sorts, tried to leave. They were immediately greeted by the sight of four eastern men in sharply pressed uniforms that was simply all black. When they all crossed eyes, they both regarded each other with curiosity. When Lim was walked out by Jamie, however, things got ugly. The four men had drawn weapons and had them trained on the group.

Sharp had led the way outside to the plane so he was in the very front. Lamar Vega was right beside him, Natasha Chapel and Janet Rush behind them. Lim was being escorted by Jamie and Knowledge made up the rear along with Kwandao.

"What you want?" Sharp groaned aloud at them. The men's faces twisted into confusion and one stepped forward.

"Give…me Lim." the man said in a heavily accented tongue.

Sharp glanced up behind him at Lim who was looking down at the men with an impassive stare. _Did he set us up again!_

"No." was all Sharp said.

"No give…no live." the man replied, and they all raised their weapons and trained them on the group.

Sharp was by no means a military guy. But with them all huddled together on these steps and with little to no room to manuever, they'd be slaughtered by their weapons.

"You try it, I'll have him break his neck." Sharp said cooly, nodding his head to Jamie. Jamie figured Sharp was trying to bluff the men. They really stood no kind of chance but he played along with it and shook Lim to help emphasize Sharp's threat. It seemed to have an effect as they hesitated in doing anything else for a full minute.

Then, two of them dropped their weapons to their sides and began to converse in low tones that were not english.

Knowledge, who was next to Kwandao, asked her if she could understand what they were saying. All Kwandao said to him was a non-committal grunt of displeasure and a motion of her middle finger to his face. Knowledge sneered at the girl, then turned to ignore her.

Sharp saw the two men conversing in a language he couldn't decipher but soon enough, he could see another jeep coming toward them from down the runway. It pulled up to a stop in between Sharp and the other jeeps. A woman stepped out of the doorless vehicle who looked to be somewhere between her late twenties or early thirties. She was definitely something to be reckoned with when one noticed her demeanor as well as her physical build that put some young men to shame.

"Who are you?" she asked though it came more as a demand. Her English was fluent, flawless but accented.

"You're not asking questions. I am, woman." Sharp spat. "Now. who are you?"

The woman began walking toward the left a bit with everyone's eyes following her, "I…am Rina. Vice Commander of the Shang Dynasty."

"The Shang Dynasty…" Sharp licked his lips, like he was whetting his appetite. "What luck. Just who I was looking for."

"And you have one of my soldiers in your…custody." Rina said.

"I'll offer you a trade. I'll give you him, and you give me Savior."

Sharp saw the woman's eyebrow rise and she openly smirked at him. She glanced up at Lim. "He is a well trained soldier. And I am his commander. We both know I will not trade the leader for a soldier."

Sharp glanced up behind him toward Lim and he was watching Rina's movements as well. But he saw no kind of desperation or sadness to what she had just said. Seemed like she was serious and Lim understood what it meant for him.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement. With everyone's eyes locked on Rina who was over toward the nose of the jet, no one noticed the pair of soldiers pulling something free from a lower hatch of the plane in a duffel bag.

"Hey!" he yelled out, pointing at the two sneaks.

"_Zhengduo! Huigui da Shang!"_ Rina could be heard yelling.

Almost in the same instant that Sharp jumped from the staircase to the ground, he figured that Rina was distracting them while those other two grabbed that bag. There was movement all around. He heard over the scuffle Kwandao yelling that they were trying to 'return to great shang'. Rina had broken for the same jeep as the two sneaks that had that bag. The other two soldiers had, unexplainably, dropped their weapons but were storming up the staircase toward Vega and the others.

A quick decision and Sharp started sprinting toward Rina and her jeep, closing the distance in a heartbeat and jumping onto the footrails along the passenger side of the jeep and gripping the hood. Directly in front of him was one of the soldiers and Rina was to his side.

"_Rang woman likai zheli!"_ Sharp could hear Rina screaming to the driver. He punched it and took off screaming down the runway. The sudden acceleration made Sharp lose his footing but he gripped the hood for dear life and managed to swing himself toward the footrails again. But with his feet and hands keeping him stable, he was easy prey for the soldier in front of him. He mercilessly slammed the butt of a rifle into Sharp's soft stomach. Both of them heard him expel all the air in his lungs and cringe, but he didn't let go. Sharp took advantage of his surprise and fell forward into the jeep grabbing at the soldier. They were both so close to each other, neither could manage to space themselves enough for a punch.

Through it all, the driver was putting distance between them and the plane. He saw the scuffle in the back and made a sharp turn and brake, causing Sharp to be propelled forward into the back of the front passenger seat. He never let go of the soldier and brought the man's face down to the jeep's floor with him. But now he was in a real bad spot because Rina's heavy boot came crashing down onto his temple, causing him to black out and release the soldier he was grappling with. Sharp's body lay limp on the jeep's floor, unconscious and bleeding slightly from where Rina had attacked him.

"_Baituo ta…"_ Rina commanded. The soldier next to her, with the jeep still in motion, grabbed Sharp, lifted him slightly and flung the boy out of the jeep. Rina turned to watch his body bounce off the pavement once and then roll, skid and drag itself to a stop after a few long moments.

"Now, turn around!" Rina commanded in English again, "And lets regroup with the others!"

* * *

Vega brought up his guard and backed up the steps slightly. Now that they'd dropped their weapons, he could deal with the odds a bit better. He waited, letting the two soldiers dash quickly up the stairs and then he leapt toward them. The soldiers were caught completely off guard by the move and crashed down to the ground. They took the brunt of the blow and Vega cushioned his landing with their bodies. But it wasn't the smartest of moves. One of the men quickly recovered and managed to squirm away from Vega so he could roll and perch himself on top of the golden haired duelist. He put a knee down into Vega's neck and twisted his arm into a painful position, immobilizing him.

"Quick, back in the plane!" Kwandao yelled, backing up so everyone could do just that. Jamie tried to yank Lim back into the plane but Lim saw an opportunity for escape. He jabbed a quick elbow into Jamie's solar plexus, loosening Jamie's grip around his neck. Lim shifted with his back now to Jamie's front and grabbed the young man's right arm as close to his elbow as he could. He pulled down on it, backed his butt up into Jamie's stomach and flipped him over his shoulder and down the stairs. Jamie's flying body crashed violently into Knowledge and Natasha who hit the stairs. Lim reacted quickly and sent a swift thrusting kick into Kwandao who was standing almost right behind him. The one blow was enough to cause the girl significant pain and she slumped to the ground, clutching her midsection.

That left Janet who stood near the middle of the staircase. Lim was at the top looking down menacingly at her and at the bottom was the one soldier that was restraining Vega and the other that was pulling himself up, essentially trapping her. She choose to go down and launched herself over the side of the stairs, seeing that the soldier that wasn't restraining Vega was moving toward her. She landed and eyed a weapon on the ground a few paces away, but in the direction of the threat. She dashed toward it anyway. The soldier aimed to grab Janet's shoulders with two outstretched hands but Janet's strategy prevailed. She kept herself low, aimed and connected with a elbow directly at the man's beltline, causing him pain that he couldn't recover from immediately. She glided past him and just as she was about to near the weapon, something grabbed her from behind and yanked her backwards. The sudden shift caused her feet to fly from under her and she landed on her butt.

She knew it had to be Lim.

She ignored the pain in her lower back and scrambled back up. Lim already had his guard up and Janet rushed in quick as she could, looking to use the same move she used to incapacitate the other man. Lim was far, far too quick for it. He dodged it, allowing her to pass beside him. With two quick steps, he was behind her. From her blind spot, Lim raised his hands, cupping them slightly. Cutting through the air so fast, a distinct 'whoosh' sound could be heard, he clapped his hands over both of Janet's ears.

Janet went wide-eyed and immediately the pressure on her ear drums served to disorient her. She tried to stay on her feet but just couldn't and fell to her knees, then down on her hands, landing on all fours. All she could hear was buzzing and spots clouded her vision, which had trouble focusing. It all combined to make her head ache as well. _One damned move and im helpless…damnit_.

Lim looked over his shoulder and saw that there were stirrings from the few that he had tried knocking out on the steps, but saw Rina's jeep screeching to a halt next to them as well.

"Load those two in the other jeep and follow us back!" Rina yelled out, talking about Vega and Janet. Lim roughly grabbed Janet by her arm and dragged her toward one of the empty jeeps with her making feeble attempts to protest. Vega, however, was full of fight. Though he did struggle against his man, it was enough of a lapse in time for Knowledge to come to his senses. He saw Vega being rough-housed into the back of one of the jeeps and Janet being flung in beside him.

"Janet!" He yelled, scrambling up to his feet.

Rina, as well as all the other Rapiers, turned their heads toward the voice and with no hesitation, moved quickly. Rina screamed 'GO,GO, GO!' and had her driver take off back down the runway from whence they'd come and Lim climbed aboard the jeep with the other two Rapiers, shouting for them to get the jeep moving.

By the time Knowledge got to the bottom of the stairs, Lim's jeep was performing a u-turn and following Rina's. Thinking quickly, Knowledge saw the remaining jeep ahead of him and jumped into the cockpit. He was disoriented with it being a right-side drive vehicle but it was all the same after that. He keyed the ignition, brought the engine to life, flipped the thing into drive and hit the gas leaving Natasha, Jamie and Kwandao behind him.

Knowledge felt the air cutting his face as he pushed the jeep as hard as it would go, making up ground on the trailing jeep which contained Janet and Vega. He pulled to within several feet of the jeeps bumper and could see Lim's face staring into his own. Lim was standing on the right side of the jeep since there was no room to sit. Knowledge saw Lim point him out to the driver and the jeep he was chasing started to swerve, trying to shake him. Knowledge fell back a few yards to keep from crashing into the vehicle, but then saw a opportunity and punched it again.

Now, he was coming up on the right side of the jeep and could see his friends. He jerked the wheel to the right and slammed his jeep into the other. Everyone in the other jeep jerked from the impact and Lim struggled to keep his balance standing on the footrails. Knowledge nudged away and rammed them again, this time causing Lim to completely lose his grip and fall backwards away from his jeep and directly onto the hood of Knowledge's. At almost the exact same moment, the other Rapier in the passenger seat had stood up and taken aim with a rifle at Knowledge. He swerved hard left, away from the offending jeep but could hear pings and pats of bullets lodging themselves in the ground or in the metal of the jeep. Steam started to billow out of the hood of the vehicle and without his meaning to, the jeep was slowing down for knowledge.

"No! Come on!" Knowledge screamed, letting up off the gas and then slamming it down again, hoping to coax more life out of the jeep. His wish was granted by hearing a strong revving noise and fell back against the seat from the acceleration. Knowledge was barely even aware of Lim clinging to the hood of his jeep, he just wanted to get closer again.

He tried again for the right side and came up close to the jeep. He could see Vega in the rear seats trying to time a jump from his seat to Knowledge's jeep. Just as he stepped to make a move, the Rapier in the passenger seat caught on and blindsided Vega with a quick slap to the back of his head with his rifle. Vega sprawled out over Janet's lap, clutching his head. Again, the man rose from his seat and began firing on Knowledge again. But this time, his aim was true and not only did he level a few more shots into the engine, he took out one of the front tires.

Knowledge's hand slammed against the steering wheel repeatedly, screaming obscenities to whomever would listen as he watched the jeep leave him behind. Slowly his eyes came to bear on Lim and glared right down to his very soul.

"Vega…Janet…I swear I'll get you back."

* * *

Rina relaxed in her seat seeing that the pursuing vehicle manned by Knowledge had slowed down and stopped chasing them. She allowed the driver of their jeep to slow down a bit to allow them to catch up to them. The first thing that she noticed were their new companions that were glaring at her. They'd been handcuffed and secured to their seats.

"Lamar Vega, it's certainly been a while." Rina yelled over the noise of the two jeeps.

"Who the hell are you?" Vega yelled back.

"I'm the one that found out your past…bastard." Rina exclaimed and watched with a sick sense of humor how all the life drained from him. The man slumped back into his seat and didn't speak anymore.

Janet glanced between her and Vega and demanded to know where they were going.

"Home. Where you can meet some new people!" Rina laughed as they left off the runway and headed into the jungle. The jeep carrying Vega and Janet fell back behind Rina's before they were run off the narrow jungle trail. Rina turned her attention to the duffle bag seated at her feet and gave it a light pat with her hand.

"Mission accomplished…" she said to no one in particular.

* * *

Knowledge stomped out of the jeep, reached across the front of its hood and yanked Lim off it forcefully. Lim couldn't find his footing quick enough and ended up tripping and falling backwards.

"Get up." Knowledge commanded in a very low tone.

Lim obliged him and stood. Knowledge turned him to face the opposite direction, heading back for the plane.

"Walk." Knowledge ordered.

"Aren't you -"

Lim was abruptly cut short by a vicious attack to his left knee. He didn't yell, but he was on the ground in less than a second breathing quickly and rubbing at his leg. He could see Knnowledge looking down at him with a downright murderous glare. Again, Knowledge attacked. This time, raising his foot to crash against Lim's lower chin. Knowledge ignored Lim's low groans that he seemed to be trying to squelch.

"Start walking back to the plane or so help me, I'll…" and Knowledge faltered, because he couldn't bring himself to say what he knew he _wanted_ to say. Lim didn't press his luck though. The blows from this teenager didn't hurt him, but he didn't want to encourage him either. He rose, turned away from Knowledge and began walking back toward the jet which was far off in the distance.

* * *

Sharp blinked his eyes and let out a pitiful moan to whoever was listening. He felt awful. He rolled himself onto his back and stared up at a clear blue sky, wondering in the back of his mind where'd the clouds they'd flown through go. He remembered fumbling around in Rina's jeep trying to stop them, then her boot coming onto his head, and nothing after that up until now.

He twitched his arms and legs, feeling that they were still functional, though torn up pretty well. Especially his left arm, he could feel a large patch of his skin was torn from whatever had happened to him. But when he tried sitting up, he had to lay back down immediately. Something in his ribcage hurt him so much he saw spots in his vision and he felt faint.

He must've fainted because beforehand he knew he was alone and when he opened his eyes again, Knowledge was standing over him.

"Sharp?" Knowledge asked softly.

"…what?" Sharp groaned, closing his eyes again.

"What the hell happened to you?" Knowledge asked, looking him up and down.

"Picked a fight with a V8 jeep…and lost." Sharp joked, dryly.

"Can you walk?" Knowledge stood up to his full height and extended his hand to Sharp. Sharp took it and let Knowledge help him up. Sharp stood on very shaky legs, feeling the blood rushing to his brain disorient him and he fell forward into Knowledge's arms.

Another joke was about to pass his lips but he was slumped over Knowledge's shoulder and could see Lim standing behind him with a stone faced glare at him. Immediately, Sharp put some of the discomfort he was feeling aside to stare at the pest.

"You…" Sharp growled at Lim, but Lim didn't waver. He was almost impossible to read and even against an enemy, he hardly ever gave you an emotion.

Sharp managed to stand up straight again and clasped his right hand over his left shoulder. Whatever pain in his chest had disappeared and he could only feel and see this shoulder wound as his main problem.

"This guy…" Knowledge began, stepping away from Sharp so he could stand on his own, "Yeah, he helped that Rina woman get away."

Sharp immediately said of Lim that he knew where they were heading. But Lim said nothing to deny or acknowledge it. Sharp stepped closer to him, staring right into his impassive face.

"Daddy has spoken, Lim. And you're gonna do what Daddy says aren't you?"

Lim shook his head in disagreement. But this only caused Sharp to smirk.

"I see. Well, just keep walking back to the plane then." Sharp said, and turned to head in that direction. Both Knowledge and to a lesser extent, Lim, were shocked. They expected him to lash out against Lim but he just turned away from him? Nonetheless, they silently followed him.

Kwandao, Natasha and Jamie all sat on the steps watching the three figures they knew were Sharp, Knowledge and Lim approach them. They all had gathered themselves after the fight that had broken out and left Kwandao with a sore midsection and both Jamie and Natasha nursing some tender areas on their bodies. All three of them were intently focused on Lim as he approached even as Knowledge asked how all of them were holding up. They all grumbled about small injuries.

Sharp cleared his throat in a loud manner directing everyone attention to him. Everyone else beside him and Lim had gathered around the base of the stairs leading back into the belly of the abandoned jet.

"So I wanna say something for everyone to hear." Sharp said, with an unnatural giddiness to him. Like he was about to spill a great, big secret. No one there had seen him speak like that before and that was just as interesting.

"I asked Lim here…" stopping to point at him. "…to lead me right to Savior so I might thank him for the busted up leg and screwed up shoulder I have now. And he said no…"

Sharp closed his eyes, still with a smile on his face. But in the very next second, he crossed the distance between him and Lim in the blink of an eye and laid Lim out with a haymaker right to the man's chin. Lim fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Amid the hushed gasps from his associates, Sharp just cracked the knuckles of his punching hand and grabbed Lim by his collar and brought him back up to his full height, now sporting a bloodied lip and some disdain from that cheap shot.

"So I wanted to bring him back here so you all would be witnesses. Me and him are now going to play a little game…"

It was around this time that the smile Sharp had been wearing slowly started to disappear as the Eye of Anubis started to appear on his forehead and the Millennium Puzzle around his neck started to glow. The area around them all started to darken considerably and even with the sun, it felt like the minutes before dawn. Barely lit, gloomy and moody.

"A game of darkness…" Sharp whispered sinisterly. Sharp began walking backwards, but still facing Lim.

Kwandao, in the front of the group with Knowledge, stared hard at Sharp. _Sharp is still very, very new to the idea of using the dark power in the Millennium Puzzle. Even compared to Knowledge. I can feel it. His area is so much weaker compared to ones that Re'-Sha created._

"This isnt going to be with cards…" Sharp said, seeing the man look around for possibly a Duel Disk. "This is going to be a very simple game, Lim."

"A game of darkness. And if I refuse to play?" Lim countered.

"Refusal is the same as losing…" Sharp said ominiously. All of a sudden, dark clouds swept in from out of nowhere and surrounded both Lim and Sharp near their ankles and shins. As Sharp walked around the cloud followed him like a puppy.

"If you lose, I'll will force where Rina went out of you. But if you win, you can leave here…" Sharp cast a glare at everyone gathered around Kwandao. "And no one will follow."

"Shut it!" Sharp bellowed to the immediate protests from almost all gathered there.

"I'm intrigued. So what is this game?" Lim asked, letting one of his hands slip into his pocket.

Sharp kept walking, "The rules are simple. We take turns asking each other questions. Should you answer truthfully, nothing will happen. But should you lie…"

And at that Sharp became silent, letting his sentence hang. Curiousity got the better of Lim and he asked the consequence of lying. Oddly, Sharp replied that he didn't know.

Then the clouds that were surrounding him around his lower legs grew violent, churning like mini thunderstorms and growing wider so they came up to his waist. Then, a very quick bolt of lightning exploded from the clouds behind him and stuck him in the back. Sharp clenched his hands into tight fists and veins popped from his neck. It all happened so fast that when he released that tension and began gasping, one might've wondered what had happened if they hadn't seen that lightning.

"Well…" Sharp said through gasps. "You…get the…idea…of what…happens…" Sharp studied Lim knowing him well enough to figure he was trying to cover his shock with an indifferent face.

"The loser is the one that cannot continue. Unconscious, refusal, cannot speak…even death." Sharp explained, who resumed walking. "And like I said, there is no refusing this game. And since you went first, that makes it my turn."

Sharp stopped and looked down at the ground. "What is your real name?"

"Lim." Lim said quickly. Suddenly, from the clouds below him, a bolt zapped him in his side, causing him to twitch and shudder.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Sharp scolded. "I thought that was a codename or something."

"My turn." Lim said, caressing his arm where he was struck. "What's your real name?"

Sharp smiled, "Sharp."

Nothing happened.

Lim looked at Sharp in surprise.

"Yep." Sharp now turned more serious. "Now I want to know about this Shang Dynasty. How does a empire thousands of years old survive to this day?"

Lim seemed to mull it over a moment, staring at the clouds around his lower body. "The dynasty survived…" he began, standing rigid and staring at Sharp, "because of people that believe in our cause and our leader."

Sharp fully expected such a vague and all-encompassing answer like that to get him zapped, but didn't hide his surprise that nothing happened.

"Tch…" he grumbled. _Just what is this Savior guy to these people? Its like he has them completely brainwashed._

"What are you?" Lim simply asked, obviously interested in Sharp not being who he expected to be.

"Hmm…" Sharp hummed, figuring there was nothing to be lost in telling him his origins. "Terry Hairston could be considered my creator. I am a part of his personality that he created to kill Re'-Sha Shythe, because the twit couldn't bring himself to do it. And I _thought_ I did just that." Sharp cast a glare at Kwandao as he said that. "Heh, a split personality or a child of a lesser God. Take your pick as to what you wanna call me, Lim."

While nothing happened, the cloud cover that was surrounding the two of them turned a lot more violent and turbulent. While Lim seemed concerned he would be attacked, there was little worry in Sharp's voice. "Oh that? The stakes are just increasing."

Lim glanced at Sharp, watching as he explained that the game would steadily increase its levels of power and they'd only just cleared the weaker of the stages. As it went along, the attacks would become more painful, crippling and serious until one decided they'd had enough or one wasn't able to continue.

Sharp sneered at Lim, "You're a good soldier, you can take a little punishment, can't ya? That makes it my turn. Tell me, Lim, why do you follow a man like Savior?"

Lim stood up a little straighter before providing his answer, "You're not of the Shang, so you don't know what its like in my home. You're an American, you pride yourselves on being free, making your own choices and can debate with any decision made with no ill effect. And you yourself, with that Millennium Puzzle about your neck believe that you can change the world."

Sharp mumbled 'I guess'.

"But you are a fool. No matter how gifted you are, no matter what individual talents you possess, you alone cannot change the world."

Sharp blinked in surprise.

"Freedom is a state of mind, Sharp. Your freedom is written in your laws, mine is within my mind. You pride yourself on making your own choices for yourself, I make mine for those that don't even know I exist. You debate endlessly about everything, even your politicians. I stand firm on my orders and I follow my leader. And I follow him because I believe in him, Sharp."

Sharp stood mute.

"My turn," Lim stated, "You come to my country to seek revenge and justice. Yet you might have a spy in your midst."

Sharp scowled at Lim, knowing he was obviously referring to Vega.

"What will you do if he turns on you?"

Sharp glanced over his shoulder and caught Vega's eye. The two of them held that glare while Sharp said, "If it comes down to it, and he stands with the ranks of my enemy, he'll be treated as such…"

Sharp quickly switched gears. "Where's Great Shang?"

Lim slightly widened his eyes at this. Sharp figured he wouldn't give him a straight answer and he was proven correct when the clouds around him became very angry and summoned a bolt of lighting and struck him dead in the small of his back. The asian stiffened with the jolt and tried to suppress a growl from his throat. It ended and he fell in a heap back onto his feet breathing heavily.

Sharp looked him over. Lim had already taken a bit of a beating already, it wouldn't take much more in his mind to push him to the limit and win this game. Of course, he thought darkly, Lim could always push on and take himself to the limit and get himself killed. It'd leave Sharp and the others with no way to find Great Shang.

"Your other half…" Lim wheezed, looking as if he could collapse at any moment. "Where is Terry Hairston?"

"Don't know." Sharp replied easily.

Imagine the surprise when Sharp was struck straight in his chest, dangerously close to his heart, by mystical lightning from the clouds surrounding his legs and torso. Sharp screamed in anguish from the quick blast and grabbed at his chest when it ended. He wildly looked around into the empty air around him.

"What?" he yelled to no one in particular, "I don't know!"

This earned him yet another blast, this time that struck him in the base of his skull. This one was very short and if one blinked they would've missed it, but it did plenty of damage. Sharp's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he knew before it happened that he might slip into unconsciousness if he didn't fight to keep himself aware. His body became limp after that and he remained standing but was not making any other moves. He knew he had to get a question out.

"Where….?" he hoarsely whispered.

"Where…is…Great Shang?" Sharp once again demanded, feeling his body sway as he said it. His eyes were glazing over and he couldn't see straight. He could make out Lim's form in front of him in not much better shape. But he didn't give an answer and before he closed his eyes, Sharp saw Lim get struck in his temple by a bolt that was enough to knock him backwards onto his back. It was the last image he saw before he fell forward and crashed into the dirt below him.

* * *

When Sharp awoke, he felt immediately that something was…off about where he was. Looking around confirmed that. The place that he was could only be described as surreal. Highly surreal.

Laying down on top of what he imagined was water, which was surreal enough, he was greeted by the sight of a blue, cloudless sky that extended as far as he could see. But he was also greeted by the sight of what seemed like two planets in the sky that were slowly inching their way across. One heading one direction and the other heading the opposite direction. Couldn't really say if it was east and west or north and south. But they were heading in each other's path, so much so that they overlapped slightly kinda like in a eclipse. He sat up.

"What are you doing here?"

The voice came from behind him and Sharp stood to face it.

"Terry." he said, looking at what was really a mirror image of himself. Terry's eyes were brown as opposed to his green and his hair was not pulled back as Sharp's was. Sharp had seen some weird things in his relatively short time, but seeing oneself was always creepy.

"So what happened to you?" Terry asked with some concern.

Sharp thought about it, trying to recall the last thing he remembered. "I was…in a Game of Darkness against Lim…" he spoke as he remembered, "Then this lightning blasted me…and nothing."

"Hmm…guess that means you got knocked out or-"

"Wait…" Sharp said, now with some ferocity to his voice. "I remember now. I got blasted because the game determined I was lying when I said I didn't know what happened to you."

Terry's eyes popped open in surprise.

"What do you know about that, Terry?" Sharp demanded, marching toward his doppelganger.

Terry put his hands up in mock surrender, "Hey, I know nothing about that!"

"Don't lie to me!" Sharp yelled, grabbing Terry by the scruff of his collar and pointing at him. "You gotta know something! Answer me, now!"

"I swear, I know nothing!" Sharp pleaded.

The two of them stood there for a moment, looking at each other before Sharp threw Terry back and watched him stumble before he got his balance back.

"I don't know how _you _ended up here, but I got here the second you took my body over…" Terry began. "I figured it was like the rest stop between us. Whenever you're in control, this is where I'm supposed to stay. Maybe it was the same for you?"

Sharp shook his head, lost in memories. "It looked nothing like this…but this is the first time that we've met since you created me."

Terry nodded. "But how have things been for you?"

Sharp scoffed. "_How have things been? _Well, you should know that your body is no longer in America and is probably laying in the dirt somewhere in China. And that you - WE - have been framed for stealing property that belong to the Chinese government."

Terry's eyes got wider and wider as Sharp explained, briefly, what they'd been up to since they'd switched places. And after he stopped telling his tale, Terry's head dropped slightly. Sharp stared at him for a full minute without saying anything. After the second minute…

"Hey, Terry…" he ventured.

"Raargh!" Terry screamed, throwing his hands into the sky. The water the two were standing upon rippled away from him in violent circles and some sort of pressure was being expelled from him that almost took Sharp off his feet.

"Savior…" Terry growled to no one as the pressure vanished and things became calm again. "I wont forgive him for this. He put my friends through this hell for his idea of saving the world? Unforgivable."

Sharp smirked. "I like that!" He walked to the front of Terry where he met his double's eyes. He looked like a coach with a star player that just did him proud. "That look in your eye. Good! It's focused, untroubled, determined. Excellent!"

Terry replied. "You mean to say…that it's nothing like when I was dealing with Re'-Sha."

Sharp nodded, still wearing that smirk.

"One of the things that I hold precious to me is the bonds I share with my friends. It's one thing to attack me. To attack my friends in order to get to me, is not forgivable. I'll take him down."

Now Sharp's smirk faded.

"No."

Terry shook his head in confusion.

"This is your fight," Sharp began, "Then again, it isn't your fight. I told you about the issue, but it isn't your issue to deal with."

"That's my body that you're messing with out there." Terry warned.

"And that's me that's in control of that body." He remembered the fight he and Jamie got into in RJ's card shop. "Heh, I can't have Jamie thinking that I'm a coward and will run at the first sign of trouble."

Terry smiled sadly, looking up at the sky. "Jamie's good like that...Tells it like it is."

"Hmph." Sharp answered with a grunt. "But back to my point, this is my fight, Terry. I'm gonna see it through to the end."

Terry grumbled, making a halfhearted comment about there not needing to be two Terry's in the world.

"My name isn't Terry, it's Sharp." Sharp pointed out.

"Sharp?" Terry blinked. "Who gave you that name?"

"Me." Sharp deadpanned.

Terry gave a sigh and seemed to deflate a little bit. "Why is it that you're fighting all my fights now, Sharp? Am I really that weak?"

Sharp didn't say anything.

"Re'-Sha, Michael Xavier, and now Savior. All of them were gunning for me and you've stepped into the fight for me. Do I really have that little power? Am I full of it and really can't do what I want to do without others? How helpless can I get?"

Sharp pointed out to Terry that he created him to fight. The simpleness of that statement almost stung Terry's ears, that he'd created and fostered a machine that only thought of fighting.

"But…" Sharp continued, "Some of your friends have shown me that there's more to being human than just fighting and dueling. They helped me start becoming something more than what you set me out to be. And before you get washy-eyed, no. I don't despise you or nothing for that. It is what it is, I suppose."

Terry suppressed the surprised look he wanted to show and instead chuckled to himself, "They're good like that. So what will you do now, Sharp?"

Sharp looked straight at Terry and rattled off soldier-like, "Locate Great Shang, find Savior, take him down and bring him back to the US to admit to what he's done."

"But you want to kill him, don't you?" Terry asked.

Sharp nodded. "It's the sure way to eliminate the problem. But I'll try it you guys' way."

Terry walked a little closer to Sharp and extended his hand. Sharp looked down at it and then back to Terry. "What?"

"Promise me something, Sharp."

"And that is?"

Terry sighed. "I wish that things were simple again, and that I didn't have to have this burden. But it's mine now. Savior sounds dangerous and just as much of a threat as Re'-Sha was. I want you to promise me that if doing things our way doesn't get it done…that you'll get it done _your_ way."

Sharp blinked in surprise. "You…_want_ me to kill him."

Terry shut his eyes, as if to hide the shame he had in them. "For all the lives he could ruin, ending his prematurely might be the only way to ensure the future will be better. You taught me that, Sharp, by killing Re'-Sha. I'd be stupid to believe that my old childish ways of looking past peoples' character to find the goodness within them would still work."

Sharp, in some kind of way, felt bad that such a thought emerged from Terry's head. While he understood he was more willing to be ruthless if needed, it sounded wrong coming from Terry's mouth. Terry, he figured, was as much a shadow of himself as he was of Terry. One despised violence, one embraced it. One condoned killing, one avoided it. One was a lone wolf, one was firmly bonded with his friends. Yin and Yang.

Maybe there was something they could both learn from each other. Maybe.

But he did extend his hand and shake with his double.

"Your ideals, Terry? They aren't childish."

And then the world turned white.


	18. Knowledge's Sacrifice

And from that surreal world, Sharp was yanked and planted back into another. He had his eyes open but blinked several times trying to focus in on them. He was greeted with the sight of Natasha and Kwandao hovering over him to either side. They both had grins on their faces but said nothing.

"Wha…?" Sharp mumbled.

"So it IS alive, after all." Natasha quipped.

Without warning, Sharp's hands shot out and almost enveloped a breast of Kwandao's and generously cupped one of Natasha's.

Kwandao's reaction was to jump away and slap his hand.

Natasha's was to jump away and slap his face.

"Yep…" Sharp said, caressing the stinging hand and his jaw. One of Natasha's rings must've hit, because that hurt more than he would've given her credit for. "Back to reality…"

"Yeah, and reality _hurts,_ doesn't it, Sharp?" Natasha hissed at him pointedly.

Sharp mumbled under his breath something about wishing reality sucked, but sat up on his haunches and looked past the two girls to where Jamie and Knowledge were nudging Lim around with their feet while he laid face down in the dirt. "What're they doing…?"

"Trying to wake up Lim?" Kwandao suggested. Sharp stared at the boys for a few moments silently. Natasha was about to say something but saw that Sharp was still staring intently at Lim. Without taking his eyes off him, she and Kwandao watched at Sharp undid one of his shoes, grabbed it with his right hand and sauntered over to Lim. He shoved Jamie and Knowledge aside roughly and crouched down next to Lim.

"Lim." Sharp said crisply. That tone when you're trying to wake a 6 year old up for elementary school. No response.

FWAP! A sound like a small firecracker met everyone's ears when he slapped Lim across his cheek roughly with the shoe. Lim didn't stir, and Sharp stared down at him with an impassive stare.

"He's awake." Sharp declared, watching everyone look from him down to the prone body, then back up at him with looks of disbelief. "And Lim, if you don't get up right this second, I'll introduce you to the second most unpleasant act conceived."

As he said it, Sharp was unbuckling his pants. That was enough for the girls to shriek and turn away. They missed the speed that Lim shot up and scurried away from Sharp, scowling at him.

"Threatening tea bagging has that effect…" Sharp muttered, hitching his pants back to where the belonged. "Alright, we're leaving."

"What? Where?" Knowledge piped up.

"To Willie Wonka's chocolate factory…" Sharp grumbled and rolled his eyes. "Great Shang, you nit. And before you ask, I already know where it is. I won the game, guess the game 'downloaded' that little tidbit into my head."

Lim challenged him to tell him exactly where it was.

"About 3 kilometers west of where we are. Dug into the side of a narrow valley that parallels a river. There's a number of caves in that area which are false entrances. There are two that are real."

Lim was good and surprised now. Like a bad announcement, his mouth came more and more unhinged as Sharp spoke.

"Stay if you want, Lim. You're no more use to me and I ain't gonna baby-sit you." Sharp spoke, while waving for the others to follow. Knowledge, Jamie, Kwandao and Natasha all walked past the stoic Lim trailing Sharp. None of them looked back.

* * *

About a hour into the hike, which had been silent except for feet crunching leaves and twigs, Natasha spoke up. "You said how many kilometers away was this place?"

"Three." Sharp said, ducking a low branch.

"And how many miles is that?"

"Damned if I know. Why don't you tell me why America hasn't adopted the Metric system."

"Because Metric sucks." Jamie whined.

"Anything requiring you to pay attention sucks, Jamie." Natasha replied smoothly.

"Metric, Standard, tomat-o, to-mato, whatever." Jamie grumbled.

"Your response for everything. Whatever."

"Whatev-well…I mean…"

She didn't say anything but Jamie could just feel the smirk on her face. Jamie pouted and turned his nose to the air, almost to get it invaded by a spider that strayed down from above.

"We ain't even walked a kilometer yet." Knowledge stated for Jamie who got rid of the eight-legged invader of the nostrils. "There's more to come and it'll come when its dark, too."

Indeed, the sun was beginning to dip toward the horizon through the trees. Sharp, ahead of the pack at the front, stopped a moment.

"You think it's wise to set up a place to sleep?" he asked of them all.

"I'm not tired." Kwandao said, who was in the rear of the group.

"It's not about being tired." Sharp said, looking around the trees. "Its more about there are things in this place I don't know how to deal with. Might be better to stop awhile."

Knowledge harrumphed, "Sure that jolt to the head didn't fry your brain?." When Sharp questioned what he meant, Knowledge said, "That sounds like Terry kind of wisdom."

"Then keep on walking and get eaten by some Chinese dragon lizard or something." Sharp said, meaning it as a joke but it hit home for the rest. They didn't know these woods, much less this side of the world. The forest was filled with sounds they weren't familiar with and ought to treat with caution.

They all decided the best idea was to make up a camp. After walking a little ways further toward Great Shang, they saw a small clearing through the trees where the grass was patted down and there was a small area of very old looking dirt on the ground. It had the look of campgrounds you could find through parks.

"As good a place as any." Kwandao mentioned, surveying the area. The rest agreed with her and set down their packs.

"Where you going?" Knowledge said to Kwandao, who had set her things down then started walking off toward the forest again. She looked over her shoulder coolly at Knowledge.

"Firewood."

"Well, be quick about it." Knowledge muttered under his breath. Fortunately for the sake of his future children, Kwandao had disappeared.

The travelers formed a circle and shared some of the foods they swiped off the jet.

"Hey, Sharp." Jamie said. "Did you notice?"

Sharp looked over toward the trees. "If you mean about Lim, then yes."

Natasha nodded as well, while Knowledge was scratching his head in confusion. Jamie filled him in saying that they noticed that Lim was following them, probably since they decided to leave him earlier.

"What should we do about it?" Knowledge asked.

The next moment, Knowledge was bathed in a assortment of twigs, dry grass and leaves that Kwandao dumped over his head. Knowledge whipped around and glared daggers at the girl while she just smirked arrogantly down at him. Something that normally Kwandao was not the type to do, but the two of them had not meshed well since just before they left Millstone.

"Get to it, boy scout." Kwandao ordered of Knowledge. "Fires keep the wild animals away."

"So do rotten smelling things…" Knowledge growled through gnashed teeth. His quip lacked the impact with dead leaves and dry moss dotting his hair.

"Ah, ah, ah little Catravious." Kwandao said, leaning very close to him and allowing an eye of hers to flash silver. "As you already know…you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

That was enough to set Knowledge straight for the time being. Even though the girl was joking, he had once been a boy scout and was trying to recall the techniques they used to make fires.

"Anyway, about our little shadow…" Jamie opened.

"You noticed it too." Kwandao said to Jamie.

"I think we all did." Knowledge said, even though he had been clueless until the others filled him in.

"But he's not doing anything. Just seems to be watching us. And that makes me nervous." Natasha said.

"I say we flush the rat out." Sharp said.

"No, lets leave it alone." Jamie countered. "Whatever's out there, we'd be walking right into it."

"A trap?" Natasha asked.

"Who knows…" Jamie trailed off, leaning back so he was laying on the ground. Above them, the sky was beginning to darken into night. "So here's a question. Just how do we go about getting into that Great Shang anyway?"

"We bust our way through." Knowledge said, clenching his fist.

"Not good enough." Natasha snapped. "You saw them at the airport, right? They were trained like a military, they were better equipped than we are, and they are armed too. Busting though even one of those guys armed would be like a suicide run!"

"We'd need a miracle to bust into a place like that!" Jamie said, agreeing with his step-sister.

"No, we don't." Kwandao said, drawing all eyes to her. "We need a plan. And I already have one in action."

"And why should I follow your plan?" Sharp asked.

Kwandao looked over at the smoldering fire that Knowledge had managed to start. "If you have a better idea that's further along than mine, feel free to share, Sharp."

Sharp let the silence that hung in the air be his answer.

* * *

"Even if I agree with it, I still say it's not far from suicide." Knowledge said to Sharp and Kwandao.

"You've got a easy job, just what are you bitching about?" Sharp accused.

"…Just don't want to see you guys hurt, is all." Knowledge piped up after a moment.

Sharp stood up, letting the now healthy and brightly burning fire illuminate him. "I'm not going anywhere until I put my hands around Savior's neck and hang him from a rope of his own crimes."

Stunned silence, then Jamie piped up with a smirk, "You know, that almost sounds downright poetic."

Sharp looked down at him. "You tell me if it's poetic when I leave Savior's corpse hanging exactly as I mentioned. Anyway, you all need to rest if we're gonna do this right. I'll keep watch."

"And what about you?"

"Like I said, I'll keep watch." Sharp repeated, shutting down the conversation.

The others tried to make themselves comfortable, considering their surroundings. Natasha and Jamie curled up with their backs to the dead log in the area. Knowledge and Kwandao laid down near the fire but on opposite sides. Sharp could swear he saw Knowledge's lips moving but couldn't hear what he was saying. Sharp took a cross-legged position on the ground so he could see everyone, but was near where the trees met their clearing. Silence and the crackling fire helped sooth the nerves of this group. The raggedness of the day caught up to them all and they were asleep within minutes.

_Mental note…Kwandao snores…_Sharp though to himself. They were more like heavy breaths than snores, and cute in their own way.

* * *

Perhaps an hour had passed when Sharp stood, dusted off his backside and turned to face the trees. He let his eyes scan over the darkened forest.

"I know you're watching." Sharp said to the darkness.

He didn't get a response.

"And you must realize that when I find him, I'm going to kill Savior."

Again, no response. But now something tickled Sharp's senses and he did an about-face to find Lim standing quite near to the sleeping Kwandao. Sharp tensed, even though Lim was standing with his arms behind his back in a very relaxed manner.

"You can try. If you challenge him, he will break you first." Lim spoke.

Sharp didn't move, he didn't know just how he'd slipped past him, but he didn't want him to harm Kwandao either. "The way he's brainwashed you into his little puppet shows how far beyond redemption he is."

Lim arched an eyebrow. "What would you know of redemption, Sharp? You're violent. Your temper is quick. Your patience is thin. You speak of killing with ease and have performed it with equal ease."

Sharp's said temper flared for a brief second in his voice, "I'm not here to debate semantics with you."

"Yet the point remains that you are as far beyond redemption as you believe my leader to be. You're not worth saving. And things not worth saving are not worth reviving when they're broken and dying."

"I'll say it one last time," Sharp said with a harder edge. "I'm not interested in your psycho analysis."

Lim took a step away from Kwandao. "You and your group of friends do not stand a chance."

Sharp barely had a chance to even recognize the smoke pellet that Lim threw to the ground and encased him in a cloud of white smoke. He dashed forward, jumped right over the top of the fire and Kwandao's sleeping form and into the smoke. All he did was run right through it. Coming out the other side, he whipped his head around but couldn't find a trace of the man.

A cough got his attention behind him as the smoke had woke up Kwandao. She saw the smoke and was instantly concerned the area was on fire until Sharp calmed her down and briefly summed up Lim's visit to them.

"Who's to say he won't come back?" Kwandao asked nervously.

Sharp shook his head. "I'm keeping watch and-"

"You've BEEN keeping watch and he got in anyway." Kwandao interrupted.

"And…" he continued, ignoring her, "He won't slip past me again."

* * *

Natasha was the first one to wake up from the group, blinking at the sunlight that hit her face.

"Hmph…"

Natasha looked toward the grunt to see Sharp crouched by the fire, poking it with a stick.

"…Did you sleep?" Natasha groggily asked.

"No." Sharp said.

"Why not?" Natasha asked.

"Had some things on my mind." He said simply, standing up and looking toward the trees.

Natasha was about to ask just what he had on his mind when Sharp suddenly barked out 'wake up!'. Jamie just rolled himself awake, as did Kwandao who was looking even more fatigued. Knowledge jumped like a snake was slithering around his neck. But aside from that, everyone was quiet and going over in their heads their roles in this stunt they were about to pull.

"You're ready?" Sharp asked Kwandao, who had been gathering her stuff.

"Yeah. And you?"

Sharp nodded, picked up his bag and fell in line behind Kwandao as they marched. Jamie, Natasha and Knowledge watched them head through the tree line ahead of them.

"How much of a head start do we give them?" Natasha asked.

"Hmm…10 minutes." Knowledge returned, glancing at his watch.

* * *

"A whole day's worth of Soul Burning, using a Petite Moth to track where Rina took Vega and Janet as well as scout out their hideout. I don't know if I'm more impressed with your foresight or your stamina." Sharp said, leading the way to Great Shang.

Kwandao was a few paces behind him, keeping pace, but was not as quick in stride as Sharp. "It's…it wasn't much." she replied quietly.

Sharp scowled to himself. _Bull. Soul Burning for just one duel with one monster took everything I had. Re'-Sha did it with five pieces of Exodia through a whole duel without breaking a sweat. Now she trumped her darker half going a full day, even while she slept. Pssh, and these people call ME dangerous..._

"If you say so." Sharp said instead. "By the way, we're not being followed."

"What do you mean? Natasha and them haven't left yet."

"No, not them. _Him_." Sharp said.

Kwandao looked up through the trees and noticed it too. "So where is Lim, then?"

"Plotting something." Sharp said confidently. "He hasn't followed us this far to give up. He's probably got a plan too."

The two were silent after that since they soon came upon the end of the trees and the end of their hiding. Beyond the trees laid a good sized river, maybe a hundred feet across from end to end. But next to it on their side of the river, like Sharp knew, was a path that dipped below their sight. That path led to Great Shang.

"So we just go in and bust heads all the way to Savior, while Knowledge, Jamie and Natasha come behind us and get to Vega and Janet?" Sharp said.

Kwandao offered a meek smirk. "I thought you'd like that kind of plan."

Sharp's smile was lined with teeth and a vicious glare toward the path. "Simple, clean and not complicated. Plus, it lets me do what I do…"

The Eye of Anubis appeared on the foreheads of Kwandao and Sharp.

"I could get to like you, Kwandao." Sharp chuckled and walked on.

Kwandao's poor heart skipped a beat and she almost lost her focus as some red crept across her face. Fortunately for her, Sharp was marching toward the path and didn't see her.

* * *

On a perch that overlooked the path, a pair of sentries watched the duo emerge from the trees and march toward the path. Typically, they wouldn't bother as there were common folk that sometimes walked this path. But Rina had warned them of possible intruders. Foreigners, especially ones with weird markings on their foreheads, sounded like something not common at all.

"They're here." one that was watching said to the other. "Report it to Rina."

The second nodded and slipped away to get word to the others.

* * *

"This one, right?" Sharp asked, stepping over a figure he'd knocked out almost as soon as he stepped in his way. Or he was dead, he wasn't too sure.

"That's the cave they went into." Kwandao said to him.

Two more men came from behind Kwandao, bearing knives. They got within a few feet of the girl before they stopped in their tracks.

"You'll not do that…" Kwandao said, looking back behind her at the two. Forcefully, she willed the pair to drop the two knives they were carrying, back up, and butt heads enough to knock them out cold.

_Now then…_Kwandao said to herself as she followed behind Sharp into the dimly lit cave. All the illumination came from his glowing Millennium Puzzle that showed the way for him.

"You're my eyes now, Kwandao. This was all I saw when I won that shadow game against Lim. Don't know the correct path toward -"

"Just keep going straight. And keep watching for a fork." Kwandao said.

She jumped slightly when she saw Sharp duck suddenly and a blade cut through the air where his chest was a second ago. It clanged against the rock wall and Sharp made a nice rising uppercut to the would-be assassin from his crouching position. He staggered backwards but didn't fall. Sharp rushed him and threw a haymaker right to the man's gut. This time, he fell like a sack of potatoes.

"Too easy…" Sharp said, kicking the blade away from the man as he moved on.

Kwandao though, looked at the man before passing him. _That first move Sharp did…it wasn't enough to knock the guy out. Why did…_ and the it came to her. _Is he using the puzzle to mess with his strength?_

_It'd make sense. Sharp isn't as good with the puzzle as I am with the ring in almost anything. But he's definitely a better fighter than I could ever hope to be, and he's playing to his strengths. _

They came to the fork she'd mentioned and they went right. After a few more paces, they came to a heavy door. Just as Sharp was reaching to open it, he saw Kwandao's hand come over his shoulder and lay flat against the door. He was about to question her but he saw her with her eyes closed and her hair was whipping around a bit. He moved to the side.

"There's a lot more beyond this door waiting for us." she said matter-of-factly.

"As in…" Sharp asked.

"As in too many for a fistfight…" she said softly. "But not nearly enough to stop _this._"

On her command, that door was blown to pieces and the parts were strewn across the next room which was like a grand foyer. It looked nothing like a cave past that point but more like a normal building just inside a cave. Hardened floors, walls and ceilings, a staircase that led up to what looked more like a capital building and more than two dozen men and women waiting on the two party crashers.

"You will move. Or I will hurt you." Kwandao warned.

They all moved, but they moved in toward her and Sharp. With a cry of 'Shang!' they charged them. Then like something from a cartoon, they all stopped cold when Kwandao raised her hand toward the group. Sharp watched intently, silently in awe of the control Kwandao had of her power.

All it took was the raising of her hand toward the sky that made everyone in that group start rising up into the air. Grunts and yelps of surprise were cut short when she swung her arm toward the left wall and watched them all hit it with a sickening crunch and all slide to the ground.

"Let's continue." Kwandao said, slightly panting.

Sharp followed, climbing up the stairs toward the top and entering the capital building behind Kwandao. As soon as they fully entered, a voice boomed out at them.

"_Welcome, Mr. Hairston. Welcome, Miss Kawamura. I hope you've found your way here without too much trouble_."

Sharp and Kwandao stopped cold.

"_I welcome you to Great Shang. A great city with wonderful people, but unfortunately for you, I cannot allow you to leave here."_

"Can't allow us to leave? And who might you be?" Sharp scoffed.

"_I…am Savior."_

"Savior…" Kwandao and Sharp said in unison.

"_It's so crude to speak with you in this way, however. I would like to speak with you both in person. Please, come this way."_

On cue, a string of lights across the floor lit up and directed the pair toward a staircase that seemed to lead down further into the building.

"Step right into your trap, you mean?" Kwandao said softly, but moved toward the stair.

"Wait." Sharp, with his arms crossed, was hesitant. "Why walk right to wherever he wants to lead us?"

Kwandao looked over her shoulder. "Aren't you the one that wanted to end this, Sharp?" She looked back toward the path. "There's no real easy way to do this. At least this way, we go right to the man, even if he knows we're coming."

"Hmph." Sharp grunted, but strode past Kwandao and took the lead down the pathway. The walk was quiet with no interruptions from Savior. Kwandao and Sharp didn't speak either. Just the rusting of their clothes and their shoes filled their ears. And surprisingly, there were no ambushes or traps laying in wait for them. Indeed, even as they turned corners and saw men and women in the halls, they didn't stop them. They walked for a little while before the trail of lights led them to a simple looking double door. Sharp just looked at it for a quick moment, then opened it.

The doorway led to, of all things, a large arena. The room was lit with florescent lights from above and the floor was something like steel. Black guardrails surrounded the area, but they didn't seem to be protecting the arena from anything. There were no hazards, no stands, no spectators.

But in the center of that field stood a man with his hands behind his back. He wore a black overcoat that came down to his ankles. Even with such a thing on, anyone could tell just how thin of a man this was. He bore a crew cut, was not all that tall and seemed pretty pale.

Sharp was almost ready to write him off until he lifted his face and opened his closed eyes. Sharp first noticed the almost inhuman looking scar across his left eye and forehead. Pale skin combined with darkened scabs and skin to make that area unavoidably difficult to not stare at. But even more than that were the solid, stone cold, red eyes that bore right into the pair.

Everything about the man just smelt of danger, even the air around him. Sharp felt something he hadn't felt in, what he had learned was weeks, pass through him. A brief flutter of fear. There was no other way to describe that feeling he possessed, especially when he could feel such pressure all around him that only seemed to magnify the longer that they were in the same room as Savior.

"Hello, Kwandao and Sharp. Won't you come in?" Savior said, like a snake seducing a mouse into it's den.

* * *

"Look at this one!" Jamie snickered as he stepped over another prone body.

"You're having a good old time here aren't you?" Natasha groaned, already sick of how Jamie insisted on describing how each of these guards had been laid out.

She, Jamie and Knowledge had waited for a little while before heading out behind Sharp and Kwandao. As they had discussed, Kwandao and Sharp would lead out with the three of them to follow behind. With those two more skilled in using the only weapons they had, the Millennium Puzzle and Ring, they would clear a path for them. Then they could come in behind them with little resistance. Sharp and Kwandao intended to search for the Dragon Bones and Savior while they searched for Lamar Vega and Janet Rush.

"Can't the both of you be serious?" Knowledge hissed from in front, but not turning to face them.

"I am serious." Jamie said, "But there's nothing to be really serious about yet."

Quick as lightning, Knowledge whipped around and was on Jamie in a instant. He moved so fast that the two of them toppled to the ground with Knowledge on top of Jamie and hoisting him to his face by his collar.

"Stop dicking around!" Knowledge yelled, his eyes full of fury and burning into Jamie's. Natasha had taken a step back, but decided not to get between the two friends just yet. She had a inkling as to why Knowledge was the way he was.

"Off me, now!" Jamie grunted, grabbing at Knowledge's wrists and wrenching them off his collar. Knowledge tried, but he couldn't match up against Jamie physically and he got him off of him as well.

"Just what is wrong with you?" Jamie spat.

"I don't want mistakes." Knowledge growled, then whipped around and headed for the cave that Sharp and Kwandao went into not much earlier, leaving the two step-siblings alone.

"What's his deal…?" Jamie asked aloud to himself. He got an answer from Natasha.

"He's worried about Janet…"

* * *

THE PREVIOUS NIGHT

Natasha rolled her eyes open, seeing that everyone else was asleep. She probably would've gone right back to sleep as well if she hadn't saw Knowledge up with his knees up to his chest, staring at the fire.

"Can't sleep?" he mumbled to Natasha.

"Mmn, just woke up." she yawned.

"It's still early, get some more rest." Knowledge said.

"You too, Knowledge."

"…Not until I get her back." she heard him mutter.

Unknown to Natasha, Knowledge had been stuck in a memory that kept repeating in his memory over and over again. The last turn of Janet's duel against Re'-Sha in the Battle City finals. Re'-Sha special summoned the Left and Right Arms of the Forbidden One and used the Spell Card Triangle Power to increase their attack power. With the help of Offerings to the Doomed to clear Janet's monster from her field, all that stood between Janet and Re'-Sha's attack was Janet herself. And Knowledge was falling into a daydream where all he saw was himself running toward her but never getting any closer. Speed up, slow down, it didn't matter. He just couldn't get there in time. And the whole time, Janet was staring at him while the fists from Re'-Sha's monster were getting closer and closer. "Why Knowledge?" she asked him there. "Why couldn't you save me?"

Knowledge, in that daydream and not knowing Natasha was watching his reactions, pounded a fist into the dirt. "I'll save you, Janet. I swear I will."

* * *

"He's intent on getting her back, Jamie." Natasha said softly.

"But the girl doesn't even want him." Jamie said, not seeing her point.

"Maybe so, but he still wants to do what he can to get her out of this." Natasha said. "The least we can do is follow along with him and make sure that he does nothing stupid."

"Knowledge…" Jamie said to himself, wondering what was going on in his head as he rounded the corner to find Knowledge far ahead of them and heading deeper into the cave. Natasha and Jamie caught up with him in short order, but found him at a fork. They approached him silently and he regarded their presence with a nod. He started walking toward the right fork and took a few paces down that path, but then stopped. Then he backed up and headed for the left one a few paces and stopped.

"We're going this way." Knowledge said flatly.

"Why this way?" Jamie asked.

"I know that Sharp and Kwandao went the other way. We'll go this way." Knowledge said.

"How do you…" Natasha began, but then Jamie cut in.

"It's those items. Knowledge has one too and if you own one, you can sense the other ones too."

Almost as if he could feel Natasha's gaze turn to look at the back of his head, Knowledge nodded but kept silent. The trio made their way through a wire gate and into what looked like a large garage. Rows of jeeps and hummer-like vehicles along with a few motorcycles were neatly arranged along the right side of the bay. On the left looked like a station for mechanics to work on the vehicles. And over on that side was one jeep that looked pretty beat up and had its rear bumper leaning up against it next to some pretty extensive damage.

"That look like the jeep, Knowledge?" Jamie asked, walking over toward it.

"Yeah…" he said.

"Question is, where did they go after parking here?" Natasha asked, pointing behind the vehicles on the opposite side of the room to a large double door and two smaller doors off to its side. They had no kinds of labels to them.

They all walked over to the doors and realized that the larger doors were actually elevator doors. Knowledge smashed the button and the doors opened up. They filed in and saw that there was only one other destination that this elevator took them to, so that made the choice easy. The only thing that was odd was that they were descending rather than ascending.

"This has been too, too ea-" Jamie was about to start, but then got nudged in the ribs by Knowledge.

"Don't." Knowledge said. "Just stay focused and stay frosty."

"My god, it speaks." Jamie joked, giving the teen a light shove.

"Look man, sorry about back there. I'm just-" Knowledge said, but Jamie shook his head, making him stop.

"You're your own man, Knowledge. I'm just gonna make sure you do nothing dumb."

Knowledge nodded, but told him that he still didn't want to make any mistakes in trying to get Vega and Janet out of here.

"And I'm gonna make sure both you kids get out of here." Natasha said with a smirk.

"Kids?" the two said in unison.

"You heard me." Natasha said, wagging a finger at them.

They might've said something in return if the car hadn't jerked as it reached their destination. Knowledge and Natasha got to one side of the door while Jamie got to the other. The doors swung open and the three of them peered past the edge of the doors to see a well lit hallway. Doors were along the walls but it was deadly quiet as if it were deserted.

They stepped out the elevator and into the hall with Knowledge leading. They passed door after door, which had no labels on them or anything, to get to the end of the hall where a left turn could be made. Turning, they all noticed the darkened area at the end of this hallway and were immediately on guard.

Just as Natasha was about to say something, they all heard one of the doors opening behind them that they had passed in the hall. Silently, Knowledge made the motion for them to follow and they all walked as fast as they could while being quiet toward that area.

When they passed into that darkened area, their eyes all took a moment to adjust to the darkness. But just as soon as they'd gotten used to it, the lights came up and they all squinted to keep the light out.

"Aw, fudge." Jamie grumbled.

They'd have been better keeping them shut.

They'd walked into some kind of gym; that was obvious from the scattered equipment across the pretty large room. But there were dozens of men and women surrounding them, all dressed in the same black jumpsuits typical of the Shang. And out in front of them stood Rina.

"Welcome to hell." she said to her three captives.

Natasha, Jamie and Knowledge each took stock of their surroundings. Hell sounded like a pretty accurate description of their situation at present.

"So you caught us. Now what?" Knowledge said, stepping forward.

"Now you're my prisoners and will spend your time wasting away when I'm not grilling you for information." Rina said as calm as you please.

"Just what kind of information?" Knowledge asked.

"Regarding the Millennium Items that your other two comrades wield. I know and Savior knows there are seven in the world. And that two are here among your ranks. We also have your other comrades here as well."

Now Knowledge was getting to what he wanted to know immediately. "Where are they? Where are Vega and Janet?"

"Here." Rina said, pointing to a set of doors off to the side of the room that were swung open to reveal Vega and Janet. But they weren't conscious, as a matter of fact they almost looked…

"They're only knocked out." Rina affirmed. But she arched a eyebrow when she saw Knowledge duck his head down as if he was, and he sure enough was, snickering. "You're the one named Catravious Collins. What's so funny?"

Knowledge placed his hands in his pockets and glared at Rina. "Well, there's two things you should know about me. One, is that no one calls me Catravious. You'd be better off calling me 'Knowledge.' And the second thing…"

With that, he pulled one of his hands free from his pocked, closed up in a fist. Opening it to Rina, who's openly was shocked at the sight, he revealed the Millennium Eye.

"The second thing is that there are _three_ Millennium Items here, wench."

There was silence in the hall for a full second, then all around him, Knowledge saw the other men and women make a dash for him from all sides.

Knowledge concentrated and clenched the eye in his hand as tight as he could muster. He could feel the eye getting warmer in his hand and a yellow glow was emanating from it. He watched as nearly a quarter of the men almost collapsed instantly, while the remaining ones were getting very wobbly and unsteady on their feet.

Rina, however, just looked at the ones that dropped with a disapproving stare. "You need more training."

"Knowledge…" Jamie said slowly. "Whatever you're doing, can you do it faster?" The ones that hadn't dropped hadn't stopped coming either. They kept advancing but some were dropping.

"This…is hard work!" Knowledge grunted through his teeth, trying to focus on the only means he'd been taught by Terry on how to utilize the Millennium Eye. But eventually, all of them had fallen without them even laying a hand on Jamie, Natasha and Knowledge.

All except Rina, who was still standing, looking unfazed.

"Why didn't you knock her out, too?" Jamie demanded.

Rina smirked, "Oh, he tried. But it didn't seem to work."

"What the…?" Knowledge gasped.

Rina advanced slowly toward them. Knowledge had his item still clenched in his fist and seemed to be focusing everything he had into bringing her down. But it wasn't working at all.

"It seems like you cannot harm me with that item." Rina said.

Jamie and Natasha both looked at Knowledge, as if to acknowledge what she was saying was true or not. They both saw him ease up finally drop his hand that contained the Millennium Eye. And they both felt their stomach's drop.

Rina's smirk grew into a smile the lower that his hand dropped. "Now that you're finished with that, you can make it easy on yourself and surrender…or I can beat you into submission."

Jamie and Natasha both looked at Knowledge again, wondering what they should do now that their trump card had been trumped. Knowledge, for his part, remained pretty cool and hadn't said a word in minutes. But a grunt came from his throat before he spoke, "Win some, lose some."

Rina scowled, obviously not expecting that answer. But that didn't stop her from reaching behind her back and drawing out a dagger that she pointed at the trio. "Surrender or no?"

Knowledge looked over at Natasha, then back to Jamie. He let his eyes wander over to the prone bodies of Vega and Janet. He turned to face Natasha and Jamie and gave them rough shoves to back them away from him as he said, "No."

Rina only took an instant's hesitation to charge Knowledge. She aimed low, intending to jab his legs. But unbelievably, she missed. Knowledge moved away to the side from the strike with speed that didn't even seem possible. Rina recovered fast. She was leaning forward from the strike she missed and felt rather than saw Knowledge to her left side. She twisted her left arm and slashed in a wide, upward arc toward him. She felt no contact on her dagger, he had dodged it and was crouched below her. If her body could've caught up, she'd have smiled.

Knowledge, using his Millennium Eye to augment his speed, had dodged her strike, and was about to land a solid blow to her chest. But he missed that she'd drawn a second blade into her right hand. He saw it coming right for him. He was too close!

This time, Rina felt solid contact on her blade at the same time she'd felt him strike her in her chest.

Rina fell back a few feet away from where she was standing just a second ago, clutching her chest. She realized how and why he'd been able to dodge her and why one punch hurt so much. But she was extremely slow to get up.

"Knowledge!" Jamie yelled, seeing him curl into a fetal position, clutching at his face and screaming into his hands. "Oh, man…"

"Get them!" Knowledge screamed at him, "Get them and let's get the hell out!"

Jamie instantly got up and dashed toward the fallen pair. Natasha stayed behind just a second longer and was able to see the damage when Knowledge pulled his hands away from his face. Rina's blade had left a terrible gash over his face. Blood was coming out of a cut that started near his hairline and came down over his right eye and through part of his cheek.

"Son of a…" Knowledge growled, and promptly placed one hand back over his face to stop the bleeding. The other started fumbling with his shirt. Natasha choked on her words, trying to say his name, but a meek chirp only came out. She glanced out at Rina, who was rapidly trying to get back on her feet. She saw the blades on the ground near her and she kicked them away.

"Let's go, Vega!" Natasha heard Jamie yell, trying to get the groggy duelist back on his feet. Natasha quickly ran to Janet and didn't even try to rouse her. She threw the girl onto her back and scooped her up by her legs and leaned forward into a fireman carry. Both watched as Knowledge stood up, now shirtless as he'd wrapped it around his face, especially the right side, as a temporary gauze. He didn't turn to them, he just started for the doorway they'd come through.

"I'll get you for this!" Rina screamed to Knowledge as he made his way out. She was on her hands and knees trying to crawl toward them and toward the doorway.

Natasha was the last one through as she couldn't go as fast with Janet's dead weight on her shoulders. Jamie and Vega rounded the corner from the gym and headed toward the open elevator at the end of the hall. Natasha came in behind and Knowledge let the doors shut and the elevator started to rise.

Jamie and Natasha just stared at Knowledge's back. The shirt he was using to bandage his face was staining red and some streaks were falling down the side of his face. He breathing was labored and he seemed shaky. Vega had been leaning against the far wall of the elevator trying to get his bearings. When he spotted the shirtless young man in front of him and identified him as Knowledge, before he could even speak his name, the elevator stopped, the doors opened and Knowledge staggered out.

"What the…" Vega got out. It caused Knowledge to stop and it caused them all to pause, too. He looked over his left shoulder at him with one eye that was bloodshot, the other being covered by a blood soaked shirt.

"Damn…" Vega said aloud. He might've summed up all their thoughts at that second.

Knowledge turned away from him. "Shut up."

Vega would've gotten after Knowledge for a jab like that if he hadn't seen what he just seen. He just fell in line with the rest of them. Natasha was still lagging behind as she was fishing in the back of one of the jeeps they passed and pulled out a white box from the back of it. She caught up eventually as they backtracked out of the garage, back into the cave and back out into the daylight. Their part of their adventure was done.

But it didn't come without damages.

* * *

Knowledge was slumped against a tree back in the wooded area where he, Jamie, Natasha, Vega and an unconscious Janet were awaiting Terry and Kwandao. Natasha had snatched a first aid kit from one of the jeeps they'd passed on their way back out of the garage. Now Natasha was kneeling next to Knowledge who had his eye closed but was awake.

"Knowledge? Will you let me?" she asked, placing her hands on his shirt that was covering his cut.

Knowledge just grunted, and raised his head up a little higher, but didn't open his eye. Natasha started unwinding the shirt from around his head. The closer she got to his face, the stiffer it felt from the blood matting to his skin and the cloth. She gently pulled the cloth off. She had told herself she wouldn't make a scene, but she couldn't help but gasp when she saw the cut up close and personal. The skin was cut lightly on his forehead and above his eye, but his eyelid had been split and there was a deep gash below it and through his cheek. Blood was still flowing through it.

"Natasha." Knowledge finally said, almost casually.

"Hmm?"

"I can't see out of my right eye."

Natasha swallowed hard, trying not to look at his bloodied eye. "It…it doesn't look good." she admitted.

* * *

Jamie poked and prodded a small fire with a stick sitting across from Vega on the opposite end. They both turned to Knowledge when they heard him hiss as Natasha continued working on him. Jamie turned back and shook his head, "Damnit."

Vega turned his sight to Jamie but kept his head pointed toward Knowledge. "How did it happen?"

Jamie ran a hand through his hair, "Trying to save you. And her."

_I'm hardly worth saving…_Vega thought to himself.

"That woman, Rina." Jamie continued. "Knowledge tried to take her down with his Millennium Item, but it didn't work. But when she told us to surrender or be slaughtered, Knowledge tried to stand up against her. She attacked him with a knife. He tried to dodge it, but he…wasn't fast enough. She cut his face bad ."

_For her and for me…he did that for us?_

Jamie looked like tears were about to break free from his eyes, but he rubbed them and started tending to the fire again. Vega let his eyes linger on Jamie for a minute more then turned them back to Knowledge.

"I'll say it for you, Vega. He's more of a man than you were before whatever's consuming you got into you." Jamie said bitterly.

Vega naturally bristled at the jab, but didn't form a comeback. It was true. Maybe he could only look at Knowledge now with a bit of admiration at what he's been through and is still standing. But him? He's been dragging his behind.

Just then, Knowledge opened his good eye and, like he knew he was looking at him, locked his sight on Vega. And with all the insight Vega gained through dueling on what each and every look meant, he couldn't figure out what this look Knowledge was giving to him was.

* * *

Jamie had Janet laying near him and saw her stir slightly and groan. Her hand went up to rub the back of her head and her eyes squeaked open to see Jamie looking down at her.

"What the…?" she mumbled.

"Welcome back." Jamie said, though not all that happy to see her.

"Where…?" she said, just as groggily.

"Away from Rina and Savior. Knowledge saved you."

That woke her up.

"Knowledge?" she spat, and jumped right up to stare down at a very calm Jamie. She could also see Vega and Natasha there. Natasha was blocking her view of someone else she assumed was Sharp. "I never asked for his help!"

"If it wasn't for him, you'd still be down there!" Jamie argued back, standing up.

"Regardless, I never wanted his help. I would have found my own way out." Janet said. "I'm not one of your little buddy-buddy pals that relies on each other to even get through the day. I'm my own woman, and I can take care of myself."

"Get over yourself, Janet!" Jamie yelled. "Are you so full of yourself that you can't even admit when you're in over your head now!"

Janet didn't answer. She moved in close to Jamie and hooked her foot behind Jamie's and pushed him roughly, tripping him and sending him sprawling to the ground. That got Vega to stand as if he intended to stop it and Natasha was already standing and moving toward them as Janet spoke to Jamie. "Watch who you're talking to, Jamie. I'm not your friend, not even your comrade. You're _this_ close to making me your enemy."

"Stop this nonsense." Natasha cut in, stepping between her and Jamie. "This isn't-"

"Arg!" Janet groaned, "Everyone stepping in my way! Just like I said, you can't do anything on your own! Not you, not him, not Kwandao, not Terry and especially not Knowledge!"

Janet felt a hand come down roughly on her shoulder and she whipped around to confront its owner. But even for Janet, she had to pause when she saw Knowledge face-to-face with her. Natasha's treatment had stopped his bleeding for now but his damage was clearly visible to her.

"My God…" Janet said, before she could stop herself.

"So that's your problem, Janet?" Knowledge demanded, his one good eye burning with a fierceness he rarely displayed. "You ain't trying to be independent of everyone…you're trying to be independent of _me._"

Janet opened her mouth to say something, but Knowledge cut her off. "You're strong, but you're not as strong as you think you are. I'm sick of this posturing you're pulling."

Just as easily as dismissing her from his presence, Knowledge turned away from her, and to Vega. "And you, Vega, you're no better than _she_ is."

Knowledge gently pushed Jamie aside and stood face to face with Vega now. "Something's eating you. We all know that. But this moping crap has gone on long enough."

Knowledge grabbed him by his collar and yanked him close. Vega's eyes still had that dull, uninspired, not-all-there look since he'd seen him return to the states. "Are you a slave to your troubles, Vega? Are you that weak that you can't beat your problems? Have you stopped growing?"

That last question tripped something in Vega's memory. When he went back to Japan after losing in Battle City to Terry, he spoke with his mentor Marcia Suzuku. And she'd told him, "_You change from boy to adult. You put your…tamashii, your soul…in the game, took what I taught, and grew. Lamar, to me, you STILL growing_."

Knowledge roughly shoved him back and spat at the ground near his feet. "Two weeks ago, if I did that to you…" and Knowledge just let it hang there.

"Wait a minute!" Janet called out, grabbing Knowledge by his arm and spinning him around to face her. "I'm not going to let you call me some faker and get away with it."

"Faker?" Knowledge laughed. "No, Janet, you're not a faker. You're just in denial with yourself."

Janet reeled back a punch and struck Knowledge right on the damaged side of his face. The force of it wasn't enough to knock Knowledge down, but it was enough to make him stagger backwards a step and also tear his wound open again. But he stood tall again, and leaned into Janet a little and pointed to his chin. And he smirked.

Janet fumed and her face flushed absolutely red. She took a step forward and let loose another punch for him, but this time, Knowledge caught the fist in the palm of his hand with a loud smacking sound and closed it over her fist.

"Stubborn woman…" Knowledge growled, and started to squeeze down on her fist.

"Knowledge!" Natasha yelled, trying to get him to stop.

"I'm fine, Natasha." Knowledge said cooly, but not relieving the pressure he was placing on Janet's hand. "I'm just making these two come to their senses."

Natasha didn't believe that, and yet, a part of her did. She was torn on what to do and looked to Jamie and she saw him with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face, but he wasn't stopping his friend either.

"Let me go!" Janet screamed. Knowledge refused.

"Look at you." Knowledge said. "You've let what Re'-Sha do to you go completely to your head. She may have released your inhibitions and insecurities, and you may truly be better off for it, Janet…"

He pulled her in close and made her look into his blind right eye.

"But you can't be honest with yourself and that makes you weak, no matter how much stronger you've become in other areas."

Knowledge flung her fist away, watching her caress it and noticing a small bit of blood, his blood, on her other hand.

"Listen to me Vega. Listen to me Janet. Whether you like it or not, whether you like me or not, I rescued your butts from Great Shang. I went and rescued one person that is turning into an emo and one that refuses to accept help on any level. I'm starting to even wonder if it was worth it…"

Knowledge glared at the two of them, almost daring them to deny what he'd said. Vega was silent, and the eternal firecracker Janet finally went silent too. They didn't move until Natasha came over to Knowledge again to finish what she'd started on his eye. The two of them moved away from them all.

Jamie looked at Knowledge and Natasha walking off, smiling on the inside. _Real leaders don't choose themselves, do they?_ he though to himself.


	19. Sharp vs Savior : A New Guardian

"So I finally meet the young man I've been playing this long distance chess match against." Savior spoke. "The King and the Queen have come to attack."

Sharp ventured a glance at Kwandao. "The King and Queen you say?" Kwandao asked.

Savior was staring at Kwandao the entire time as he spoke and watched her expressions change from confusion to surprise. "In chess, in no uncertain terms, the Queen is the central figure. She is the most powerful piece on the board. To capture the queen is to cripple your opponent's ability to attack and defend."

"And yes, the King. The leader. The one everyone fights to defend. And when the king is captured, the game is over."

Sharp's expression never changed from the scowl he'd settled on. Savior continued. "I suppose you must hate me for ruining your lives as I have done. And I suppose I owe you some kind of explanation to my actions. Well, if so, you thought wrong. I owe you nothing."

"What?" growled Sharp.

"I did what I had to to keep a whole world from experiencing the terror you could've unleashed on us all. And I don't feel sorry for it at all." Savior said. "Those Millennium Items that you carry with you are no toys and they should've been returned to the depths that they came. Nothing good comes of them."

Savior turned around so his back was to Kwandao and Sharp. "The two of you, Kwandao Kawamura and Sharp, I see as the second most dangerous weapons that I know about."

"So you plan to kill us." Sharp surmised. Surprisingly, Savior shook his head.

"I don't kill."

Kwandao took a step forward. "And what is it that you think you did to my…my partners? You destroyed their lives in the name of some pieces of yellowed turtle shell. You turned them into criminals in order to protect something you wanted. Isn't that right?"

"Incorrect, Kwandao." Sharp corrected. "These Dragon Bones are nothing to be played with. I've spent days researching on how to destroy the things, with nothing to show for it. You see, these Dragon Bones are the seal that holds back ten demons that ravaged the world in a time before recorded history. My people, the ancestors to the Shang Dynasty, sacrificed themselves to seal them away since they could not destroy them. Every last one of them died in the effort."

"Those Dragon Bones are nothing that I want, they are something that I despise enough to not let them fall to anyone's hands that might misuse them. So I, as you say, set you and your partners up to take the fall."

"Not good enough, Savior." Sharp snapped. "Your means don't justify the ends."

Savior shook his head. "Justify? Now that's a laugh coming from you, Sharp."

"What you mean?" Sharp asked.

"Tell me what's the difference between me incarcerating you for a crime you didn't commit versus you mind wiping a pitiful spirit that had it's soul shattered by zealous Egyptians?"

Sharp opened his mouth, but nothing came out but the sound of him choking on his words.

"I know your story, Sharp. Or rather the story of your other self, Terry Hairston. How he worked to keep the other items from Re'-Sha. He collected them all to keep Re'-Sha from attaining her goal to piece together her shattered soul. And her ambitions almost came true, had you two not overcame her. You're more like me than you possibly would care to admit, Sharp."

"I don't think so." Sharp said, but with a slight waver.

"Oh, I think so. Ask yourself. I said I owed you no explanation as to why I did what I did to you. Do you not feel the same way to any person asking you of what you did to Re'-Sha? I feel no remorse for your situation that you find yourselves in now because of me. And you don't feel remorse for the situation you've placed that spirit into now as well either, no?"

Sharp was starting to feel something that he never liked to feel within himself; indecision.

"Your decisions parallel mine because we are more alike than you'd admit, young man. Can you say to yourself with confidence that if you had been tasked with a situation as I have, would you not have acted in the same manner to achieve this result?"

Kwandao, who'd been watching Sharp become more and more introverted and not like himself, grabbed him by his collar and shook him violently. "Snap out of it, Sharp! Don't listen to the nonsense he's spewing!"

_Is it really all nonsense? _Sharp dared to ask himself. It was something that, unwittingly, he put out so that Kwandao could pick it up through her Millennium Ring.

"You're nothing like him." Kwandao pleaded. "Take it from me, you are nothing like that monster. You've changed. You were cold and ruthless before, but now you've become something more than just some dark half of Terry. You're growing and becoming something much better than that!"

The words seemed to touch Sharp and almost instantly he recouped some of the fire that had been fueling him before he stepped through this door. But Savior now turned his gaze to Kwandao. "Could one not say the same of you, Kwandao?"

"What?" she said, not wanting to turn to face Savior. She could just _feel_ his eyes burning into her back, she wanted no part of that gaze in her eyes.

"No one could possibly match your power with that Millennium Ring around your neck. Not even Sharp on his best day with all the luck in the world behind him I would wager. You're only a slightly less dangerous phenomenon than Sharp not because you're that powerful, but because you're so malleable."

"I'm…what?"

"You're so easy to manipulate, Kwandao because you lack confidence in yourself. You cannot stand for yourself. And this is the cold, hard truth of yourself because you know it to be true."

Kwandao, who was still facing Sharp, let her head drop and she crossed her arms across her chest. Sharp saw it and sucked on his teeth, stepping away from her.

"Alright, that's enough. You're some piece of work, you know that?" Sharp said to Savior. "What makes you so certain of us, so sure that you know whatever you're babbling to be the truth?"

Savior shrugged his shoulders. "…I have sources."

Sharp saw that Saviors eyes were not on him but on something to his right. Sharp followed his eyes and immediately picked out what Savior had to be looking at.

"Lim…" Sharp growled, narrowing his eyes at the soldier. Lim, as ever, looked down from the stands as nonchalant as he ever did. The two of them locked eyes as Sharp realized _this_ was why he hadn't seen Lim following them as he and Kwandao made their way to Great Shang; he'd gone ahead of them to warn Savior.

"You've done a excellent job, Lim. You make Rina and the rest of her Rapiers proud." Savior praised.

Lim bowed slightly toward his general, and Savior found something very interesting about his fingernails as he spoke to Sharp. "I see no reason you shouldn't know, Sharp. I think you believe you've been clever in your approach to get to me. Yet, did you realize that you have been manipulated?"

Sharp's gaze became one of confusion and curiosity.

"Did you realize that Lim's plan was for you all to be captured along with him back in the United States by your local authorities?"

"I assumed it." Sharp said.

"Then you must not have considered why the pilots of the plane you boarded disregarded you all. Because they were working for us. So you must've believed that Lim had no part in having Rina and her Rapiers meet you as you entered my territory. A group of armed men need not meet Lim if I hadn't know you were involved. I insisted she take an armed escort. Nor that it was coincidence that she took captive Lamar Vega, the one man I had personally made contact with while he was in Japan. The one man who had intimate knowledge of me. Or that I know you plotted to get to me while your other comrades would search for your other friends. As a matter of fact, I know they have entered Great Shang now."

Sharp made no sound, but knew what Savior was leading to. He looked back to Lim who was looking down at Sharp with a sideways glance. That kind of look that makes one think they're being looked down upon. "You set us all up for this from the very beginning."

"Correct." Lim confirmed.

Sharp kept his eyes on Lim, but his thoughts were not on him. _This guy, Savior, planned this all out ahead of time. Just what IS he, some kind of brainiac?_

"You cannot keep a secret from me if I want to know it, Sharp." With this, Savior waved off Lim, who again bowed and left the arena, but not without a smirk of arrogance to Sharp. "I wouldn't dare to leave my people unprepared when dealing with something so important as these Dragon Bones. Now that I have them, I will take proper care of them. And I will take proper care of you as well. Your Millennium Puzzle carries too great of a risk to leave it to you unchecked. I demand a challenge for the right to that item."

Without his meaning to, the Millennium Puzzle started glowing and it removed itself from the loops around Sharp's neck and started hovering in the air between him and Savior.

"What the?"

Kwandao scowled, "He challenged you for that item, Sharp. It's the way the items work. They respond to challenges."

Somewhere in his memory, Sharp seemed to remember that something like that was told to Terry by…someone. He couldn't recall whom, but it didn't matter.

_Sharp, can you still hear me?_

Sharp kept his face facing Savior, but his eyes looked over at Kwandao. _Yeah, I guess I can._

_I'll make this quick. Savior openly challenged you for the right to hold that item. So right now, any kind of powers that you had when you were wielding it, he has access to. Long story short, the one left standing wins and wins the puzzle._

_So I just have to beat him, just with this…magic?_

_Not exactly. You could pummel him and that would-_

Sharp didn't let her finish the thought in his head. He dashed ahead toward Savior who had placed one hand behind his back and stood toward Sharp with the other palm up.

"Bring on the noise!" Sharp screamed, jumping up and bringing his closed fists down on Savior.

It didn't happen. Savior's hand shot up and grasped Sharp's arm well before it could strike him.

"Pathetic." Savior muttered.

All at once, with that one word, and the fact Savior held him in such a vulnerable position, his thoughts betrayed him and he almost felt like he was fighting Re'-Sha again.

With little effort, Savior flung Sharp away from him toward the ground. Sharp twisted himself in the air so he got one hop off the ground, did a backflip and skidded backwards but in a ready position.

"Rrragh!" Sharp growled and ran forward again. He reeled back for a haymaker and was parried away by Savior. He tried another punch, but it, too, was parried away. He tried to uppercut him, but Savior just shuffled backwards and avoided the blow.

"Are you even trying, Sharp?"

Sharp tried to lunge at him again, but Savior swung his arm in an arc toward him. It created a wave that was enough to bat Sharp away and several feet from Savior. Sharp beared his teeth at Savior.

"You say I'm the king in this game you think your playing. Fine, I'll take your challenge, Savior. And when I win, I'll drag your sorry behind back to the states and clear my name, clear everyone's name!" Sharp declared, pulling his deck free and slamming it home onto his disk. He knew what that top card on the deck was. "Rise, Scorpio Dragon!"

Sharp slapped the card onto his Duel Disk and could feel the tugging on his very soul. The power this dragon was pulling from him in order to come into this world, and Sharp gave it up willingly. He let his anger and his frustration drive him and feed the dragon. On the ground below him, he saw the earth crack and splinter with a white light streaming from the cracks. A soft hum filled the arena before the ground below Sharp exploded with a thunderclap and Scorpio Dragon flew out of it. It coiled itself around Sharp, staring hard at Savior.

Kwandao shivered at the sight of the dragon. "Sharp…"

Sharp didn't respond to her. He was trying to stay mad. If he was mad, he couldn't be distracted from the fact that calling out Scorpio Dragon with Soul Burning was taking a great strain on him.

"The extremely rare Scorpio Dragon, your - or rather, Terry's signature card."

Sharp wasn't for talking. "Scorpio Dragon!"

Scorpio Dragon reared back it's head with it's mouth agape. Sparkles of light, both white and violet, started to collect in it.

"Twilight Burst Stream!"

The dragon snapped it's head back toward Savior and shot off a beam toward Savior that would more than likely kill him if it connected. But no one was prepared for another beam, this one just being pure white, that exploded from the ground and began to struggle with Scorpio Dragon's.

"W-what's that?" Sharp stammered.

Savior, who still had a hand behind him, made a show of showing Sharp that that hand contained a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. And he turned it so they could see it; Dragon Master Knight.

Without the beam being interrupted, the earth around Savior started to crack as well. He skipped backwards until he was nearly against the far wall. All of them were mesmerized as the sleek, silver body of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon started to emerge from the ground, all the while being ridden by Black Luster Solder. The monster stood far taller than Scorpio Dragon, but neither's beam was budging in either direction.

Kwandao scowled at the sight of it. "How did he-?"

Savior, for the first time, staggered and swayed slightly with the strain of the monster on his body. "It's stronger than I…than I ever imagined it could be…the pain…"

_Sharp!_ Kwandao was almost screaming into his mind._ That monster can be beaten! Both of your monsters are only as strong as you can make them, the numbers mean nothing!_

Sharp growled deep inside himself. "I won't let you go, Savior! You've caused too much grief to get away with this!"

Scorpio Dragon was starting to edge Dragon Master Knight. It's beam was starting to edge closer and closer to it.

"You framed me, you dragged me halfway around the world, you had my friends threatened, you changed my life forever, but the worst thing you could've ever did was to piss me off!"

Savior was seriously struggling with this and was on his knees with his hands balled up into fists. But Dragon Master Knight was still losing out.

"And…and so what? I'd do it again. And again, and again! You foolish brats don't get what's happening around you." He managed to get himself back to a standing position, hands on his knees.

"I can't let the troubles one person might feel be the downfall of this whole world. Your situation doesn't mean anything to me, Sharp"

Wind started whipping up around Sharp and his hair started flaying wildly around his face. One could look closely at him and see veins starting to show over his arms. "I'll break you for that, Savior!"

Scorpio Dragons' beam suddenly got another boost in strength, it threatened to completely overtake Dragon Master Knight now. For as powerful as the monster was in the game, it was barely hanging onto its life now. Savior looked up at Sharp, his red eyes blazing, but now his iris' were turning black. He truly looked inhuman.

"I…I can't lose! I won't lose!" Savior yelled, with his monster responding to his desire. Dragon Master Knight was gaining a small amount of ground on Scorpio Dragon. At the same time, Savior started to rise into the air, with a black fire surrounding him and billowing about him. "Look at yourself, Sharp! A so called man of justice? You're trying to kill me! You're no better than the people I fight against!"

"I know what you're trying to do, Savior, but I won't let you do it to me. You're trying to mess with my head and fill it with nonsense and indecision, but I am above that!"

"Nonsense?" Savior roared, like Sharp had insulted him. "You're trying to take a human life! You've no right to decide who's fit to live and die in this world, especially when you're not even OF this world!"

Sharp hesitated, and that moment's hesitation cost him.

Dragon Master Knight tipped the scales into its favor in that one moment and now Scorpio Dragon and Sharp were the ones fighting for their survival. Sharp was putting everything he had left into this, but he could feel his body giving way. In the back of his mind, he knew that Savior couldn't be much better than he was so he just had to outlast him.

"You're no better than Re'-Sha ever was!" Savior spat.

It was a revelation Savior offered that cost Sharp dearly. It was as if the will to fight died like a light bulb within Sharp and he and Scorpio Dragon were engulfed in the wave of energy Dragon Master Knight spew from its three mouths. They were forced into the earth and a wave of rocks flew into the air as Sharp and Scorpio Dragon were forced into the ground.

"Sharp!" Kwandao screamed, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

Savior's monster stopped attacking and the arena became quiet. Kwandao ran forward toward the smoking crater Dragon Master Knight had created. The dust stung her eyes and kept them watery. Seeing Sharp leaning up on his elbows, scowling, looking like crap but alive made them flow again.

"You…" Sharp growled, he moved to stand up, but he felt a force grip him all over his body. "What…?"

His arms were locked against his sides and his legs locked together and he slowly started rising into the air against his will. He heard Kwandao yelling at him as to what he was doing. "It' not me! I'm not…doing this!"

They both heard the chuckling from the other end of the arena where Savior, still enveloped in that black fire, had a hand extended toward Sharp. "Truly this item is far too powerful for a whelp like you to wield."

His expression darkened. "But I've learned something else today, Sharp. You are a danger to anyone around you. Your disregard for life disgusts me. And I'm going to make it a point to make sure you don't kill again."

"Let him go!" Kwandao yelled, her fists clenched and the Millennium Ring around her neck burning brightly. Her hair was whipping around wildly with something like a white fire enveloping her as opposed to the black one around Savior.

Savior's eyes widened, sensing an attack coming from her. He flung Sharp to the ground near her, but he was not prepared when nothing short of an inferno of fire burst forth from around her and ravaged the arena as it closed in on him.

Sharp hit the ground near Kwandao, holding his side where he'd landed. He was about to thank her, but when he looked up at her from the ground, he stopped.

Her eyes had turned silver.

Then, his attention was drawn to the wall of fire that was heading for Savior. All of a sudden, it changed direction and was coming back toward him and Kwandao.

All he could do was watch it for just one second and then turn his head away with just one thought, 'I'm going to die."

From somewhere within him, he heard a voice he knew didn't belong to him or Knowledge or Kwandao yell, "No!"

* * *

Natasha had been working on Knowledge for more than a hour and was putting the finishing touches on Knowledge's bandages that would cover his eye when he stiffened and his good eye flew toward the sky.

"What the?" he said, watching as a yellow glow like a second sun emerged. It just glowed warmly above them, not more than a good ten or fifteen feet from the ground. Jamie, Vega, Janet and Natasha all noticed it and looked at it curiously.

"Knowledge…" Jamie began.

"It's not me." he confirmed. "But…its like I can feel something coming from it."

Just as soon as he said it, they could plainly make out two human silhouettes forming from within it, one was female and one was male. The yellow glow disappeared from them in a flash and they became visible as they fell to the ground. Sharp made no move, but Kwandao groaned and stirred slightly.

"Sharp! Kwandao!" Jamie yelled, going over to them. They'd been worked over thoroughly even from his view. He had to skid to avoid another yellow glow that had appeared before him, just behind Kwandao and Sharp.

Now, Knowledge stepped in front of Jamie and watched as two more figures appeared in the glow again. Another male and a female. When the glow disappeared again, Knowledge couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Rina…" he growled, clenching his fist.

She said nothing, but she did acknowledge Knowledge's presence with a silent laugh.

"So that's the one, Rina?" the man said, looking toward her. The man had his back to Knowledge.

"Yes, Savior." she answered.

The man turned slowly and let his red eyes glare into Knowledge. Knowledge, who had yet to meet Savior to this point, was just as surprised as any with those eyes of his and felt his heart skip a beat.

"Savior…" Knowledge heard from behind him, and saw that Vega had come to stand beside him.

"Lamar Vega." he said with a slight bit of cheer in his voice. "I'm glad to see you're well. Though I do wish you were in our company."

Vega found conviction in his voice he'd been missing for quite some time when he said, "You don't want me in your company, Savior. I refuse to band with your group of terrorists."

"What did you do to my friends, Savior?" Knowledge demanded, looking at the still form of Sharp and Kwandao, who was not unconscious but clearly not alert.

"I'm returning them to you. I'm done with them. I have what I wanted."

All eyes went to the pendant he was holding in his hand above his hear.

Terry's Millennium Puzzle.

Knowledge recalled how once when he threw his Millennium Eye away, it came back to him automatically. But the Puzzle was not doing the same for Sharp. And the only reason that it would not return to him was if he was no longer its Guardian.

"This Puzzle…is even more of a danger than I'd thought. But there is so much I could do with it's power." he said like he was speaking to the puzzle itself. Then he looked at the group assembled before him. "Your friend Sharp fought well, but he couldn't defeat me. He wagered his Millennium Puzzle against me and lost. I'm almost curious what that means for Terry's consciousness, but its not something I'm _that _curious about."

Savior turned his attention to Knowledge, "Though you do interest me some, Catravious Collins. You managed to take out my top lieutenant, although it seems she didn't let you off easy."

"One last time, what did you do to them?" Knowledge spoke evenly, trying not to anger himself.

Savior looked down at the pair in front of his feet. "Once the match was over, your other friend Kwandao tried to destroy me with her own item. Whatever she tried to throw at me, it backfired and attacked her instead and wounded both her and Sharp. She tried to escape with Sharp, but, as you can see, we managed to track her down."

Kwandao stirred and opened her eyes to see Vega, Knowledge, Janet, Natasha and Jamie standing up above her, but she also saw Savior and her eyes widened. Then she saw the Millennium Puzzle in his hands and they grew even larger.

"The Millennium Puzzle…"she said hoarsly.

"Is mine now." Savior finished. He crouched down to one knee to bring himself closer to her and tilted her chin so she could see him. "As I said before, when the King falls, even the Queen becomes easy work. Your not the winner of this game today, Kwandao Kawamura."

Savior looked up from his crouch to Knowledge, Vega and the other and made a show of slipping the Millennium Puzzle around his neck and cradling it in his hand to show it to them. "You must be thinking I won't get away with this. Let me correct you. I haven't gotten away with anything. You've invaded my land and I have repelled you. A ruler should set an example of such things by killing the would-be invaders. But I don't kill. You'll live, all of you. And you'll live with memories of this day for the rest of your lives and the knowledge that you cannot defeat the Shang Dynasty. Live with that, keep it bottled up inside you and never try to oppose us again."

An explosion rocked the area behind Savior that surprised everyone assembled except Savior and Rina. "We'll leave this area and move our operation to another place. You won't find my next base of operations if you even have the nerve to try. Rina, mobilize your Rapiers and -"

Savior felt a hand grasp at his foot and looked down. Sharp had him by his ankle.

"Sharp, can't you see the end? Don't you realize it's over?" Savior said, almost sadly. He was quite surprised to look down not into emerald eyes, but brown ones. That was not Sharp.

"This isn't over."

"Ah,….Terry." Savior said, "You've returned just in time to witness the end. I have your puzzle, I've defeated your other half, your Queen lays battered besides you. How can you mean that this isn't over?"

Terry coughed and set his eyes right into Savior's. "Because as long as I'm alive…I'll hunt you down, Savior."

Disgustedly, Savior kicked Terry's hand away and watched him lay flat on the ground again. "Bold talk for one that's no higher than my boot. You're like a dog to me, Terry. Your fang will never reach me."

Savior stood again and cupped his hands around the Millennium Puzzle, causing it to glow. "I'm leaving now. You'll do well to remember what I said."

As they became enveloped in another ball of yellow light, Knowledge heard Rina speaking, "We've still got business, Catravious. I will see you again someday."

And then they were gone.

* * *

"Hey, wake up! Wake up!"

Rolling his eyes around, he opened his eyes and Knowledge could tell immediately. "Terry, is IS you!"

"You wanted Elvis?" Terry mumbled. Then he got a good look at Knowledge. "What happened to your face?"

"It's…it's a long story." Knowledge said, hoisting Terry up and slinging one of his arms over his shoulder and supporting him. Terry looked around to his friends' faces.

"Knowledge…guys…seems like it's been so long since I've seen you." Terry said smiling.

His smile was infectious, getting them all to at least smirk if not smile. He stood up the best he could. "I really, really do wish I would be coming back to better circumstances, but I guess that isn't what destiny had planned for me. For us. Savior's got the Millennium Puzzle in his hands now and he has those Dragon Bones. We've got to get them back."

He gently pushed off Knowledge and stood on his own two feet to look at them all. "We've all got our differences, but right now, this conflict with Savior ties us together whether we like it or not. And I learned a long time ago that it's no use running from your responsibilities."

"My destiny is what I make of it, Terry." Vega said.

"Vega, you once told me that I blocked the road you were walking on. Can't you see that Savior is doing that to you right now?" Terry pleaded. "This enemy is not one that can be defeated one-on-one. We have to come at him together."

Terry looked around and saw just from their looks, he had Knowledge's, Natasha's and Jamie's support. Vega and Janet were not sold. Kwandao, who was being held up by Jamie, reached over and put a hand on Janet's shoulder.

"Please." was all she said.

Janet looked at her for a long moment, then to Terry, and finally to Knowledge. "Terry, like you just said, this is a fight against an entire movement. And their leader beat your other half and took your Millennium Puzzle as a trophy. What guarantee do I have that you can win this fight?"

It was a valid question and everyone turned to Terry to see his response, which he gave in an instant. "I will get the puzzle back and I will defeat Savior. Janet, trust me, just like I once trusted you."

Janet blanched on the inside, knowing almost immediately what he was talking about. In her duel against Re'-Sha, between Knowledge, Jamie and Terry, Terry was the only one that gave her a chance to beat her and believed that she could. He even berated Knowledge for his lack of faith in her abilities.

Janet solemnly nodded her head. "I'll cooperate, only because it's you Terry."

Terry thanked her and turned to Vega. "Vega, I need your help, too."

"Will it be enough to just defeat Savior?" Vega said.

Terry sighed deep, remembering how Vega had asked him the same thing just before he had his own duel against Re'-Sha. If just beating her in a duel would end his and her conflict.

"No, Vega, it won't." Terry conceded. "It will be difficult to do, but I will bring him down."

_And if that wont get it done, I'll make him pay the ultimate price._

Terry turned from them all, as if admiting that in his mind could be read on his face. "I won't fail. It's not like when I dealt with Re'-Sha and the whole world could've gone belly up. But its just as important to me when it deals with my friends."

Terry started walking and the rest of them fell in line behind him. "We're going back to that plane and going back to the US. Savior's no longer here and I don't want to be around when whoever comes here to investigate that explosion."

END


End file.
